The White Rose
by SnSAngel
Summary: Is Alice truly dead, or is Whilhelmenia lying? ..What will happen between Shana and Yuji when a shocking truth is revealed?   Sequel to Red Albino.  Enjoy  3
1. CH1: The Week After

**_Konnichiwa! I know you all missed me :D (Just say you did :|_**

**_I've finally gotten around to making the first chapter of 'The White Rose'! Yay! It turned out amazingly better than I had originally thought since when I started typing the only thing I knew to put down was 'Shana' and the rest of it was pretty much a blank..._**

**_Just so that you don't get confused, this story starts a week after Shana was released from the hospital(coma) :]_**

**_So Enjoy! Onegai!_**

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><p>Shana woke up to the sound of an alarm clock going off. She sat up so fast that she nearly toppled forward, but catching herself before that happened.<p>

She jumped out of her bed and stormed over to the window, each step turning into a stomp as it drew closer. The glass of the window nearly shattered from the force that she opened it with. She took in a deep breath.

"SHUT IT OFF!" Shana yelled at the top of her lungs so that her voice could reach through the walls of the neighboring apartment.

Apparently someone moved in to the apartment next to hers about a week or two before she woke up from the coma. Within a couple of days that person, who turned out to be a young man who's probably in college, engraved it in his mind to turn his alarm clock off right after he woke up. He wasn't going to die over an alarm clock. Not today not tomorrow.

The man, who's name is Mibosha, stumbled out of bed and flew over to his alarm clock. Much to his horror the dumb thing wouldn't turn off. He started to hit the 'snooze' button on the top of the alarm clock as his panic level was rising. He could _feel _her anger boiling from across the street.

How the heck does she hear it anyway? That's what he asks himself most of the times he gets awoken by her voice, but he never really has enough time to think of an answer before he's either running from her death grip or running late for his college classes.

The clock still wouldn't turn off after he started stomping on it with his foot. Why did this thing want to kill him? It will if it doesn't stop that annoying alarm. Maybe this was karma trying to get him for something, but what was that something? He never did anything bad to have karma. Most likely it's God showing his _wonderful _sense of humor. Oh but Mibosha was not laughing, and soon he wouldn't be breathing either if he doesn't shut the stupid alarm clock off.

He heard a loud noise come from the flame haze's apartment, but he couldn't make it out since it sounded so distant in the background. Everything from that point was a blur, although he could make out three things that he did.

He grabbed the alarm clock.

Walked over to the window.

Put all of his strength into the arm with the hand that was holding the alarm clock, and then he chucked it out the window with so much force that it basically shattered upon impact with the concrete sidewalk below his window. Pedestrians going about their normal day stopped and turned their heads hearing the clock hit the ground.

Mibosha dared to look up and his whole body turned to stone as he awaited some kind of impact from the girl across the street apartment who happened to be looking back at him with a glare that would make the devil cower away with his tail between his legs.

Then she turned and walked away from the window as if nothing happened.

Saying he was relieved is an understatement, he was well beyond that point. He didn't die! He felt like jumping around and running around, but got a glance at his wrist watch to see he was going to be very late for class if he didn't get ready now. 'Man, now I have to buy a new alarm clock' he thought grudgingly as he walked over to the window again. Looking down he slightly winced seeing the clock scattered about in a million pieces, that could have been him!

Surprisingly Mibosha has talked to Shana in person before, and unlike what he had expected, she was rather nice and more polite than he had imagined. However within the last few days he made a engrave of fear on the back of his eye balls to _not_ wake her up at anytime before 8 o'clock in the morning.

Shana may be rather nice when your talking to her later in the day, but she is _not _a morning person. Never has been and probably never will be he concluded.

Speaking of the flame haze she had already climbed back into bed, and was currently waiting for sleep to take over.

And waiting...

And waiting...

She tossed and turned in her bed trying to find a comfortable position so that she would fall right to sleep, but no matter what she couldn't get back to that lovely dream she was having before being rudely awakened by that abomination of an alarm clock.

Shana turned to see her clock, thank God there wasn't an alarm feature on it, and it read; **5:23 A.M.**

She had been trying to fall back to sleep for more than an hour now. Figuring she probably wouldn't either.

Shana peeled the covers off her body and then got up to go into the living room section of her apartment, groaning all the way. Upon arrival of her destination she curled up on the couch and turned the T.V on. Maybe something on the television would help her fall asleep. Any hopes of that were quickly crushed as she saw absolutely nothing on. No wonder people never wake up in the early morning there's nothing to watch on T.V!

Everything looked and was boring, and you would think that would be perfect to make you fall asleep. Well it wasn't working for Shana as the programs were so boring that she _couldn't_ get to sleep watching them.

She sighed before getting up and heading for her bedroom. Grabbing some change of clothes she walked like a zombie into the bathroom to take a shower. If she wasn't going to get any sleep than she might as well get ready for the day.

After getting freshened up she headed into the kitchen. Opening the fridge she gabbed the milk carton out of it, poured the white liquid into a glass and then returned the carton back to it's rightful place.

As she drank down the glass full of milk she pondered what she could do next.

She couldn't call anyone since they were all asleep probably, and what would she say to?

Thinking of her options she decided to just go for a walk along the river. Putting the now empty glass into the sink and grabbing her coat, she was out the door.

* * *

><p>Shana walked along the riverbank taking in the beautiful sight. The moon was still high in the sky, and it glowed brilliantly against the black background. The light from the moon illuminated the city as the stars effulgent-ed on the black sky.<p>

The moon was full and shined down toward the river as the water reflected the glow causing there to be a long and big streak of silver-ish white on the top of the water.

It was beautiful. The only word to describe it.

Shana was so caught up in the scenery that she didn't even hear the footsteps approaching until something hot touched her cheek.

She yelped in surprise and upon instinct she jumped back a couple of feet away from the source of the heat. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she saw it was Yoshida holding a hot drink. The brown haired girl had that same perfectly happy smile she always has.

"Don't sneak up on me like that" Shana started relaxing now, knowing she wasn't going to have to fight someone. That, however, would be unlikely because ever since she fell into that coma Whilhelmenia, Yuji along with a lot of other flame haze's were taking care of the remaining Tomogaras and Denizens. 'Remaining' considering Hecate along with Sydonay and Bel Peol were all killed in the battle before Shana collapsed.

Everyone is still confused about it till this day. Nobody threw those final strikes to the three of them, nobody there killed them. To be honest Yuji's side of the fight was the weaker, and if it had not been for what had happened then Yuji, Whilhelmenia, Satou, Tanaka, Yoshida and some others who joined in to help would have all been killed.

**Flashback:**

_In the midst of battle when there wasn't much hope left everyone was astonished to see a black cloaked figure land behind the three enemies. Yuji's immediate thought was the that person was the leader of all the denizens and tomogaras. He stayed strong and kept fighting though, if he was going to die then he was going to die fighting._

_But he didn't have a chance to land another blow._

_The figure cloaked in black pulled out a weapon and that's when Hecate and the other two turned around to fight that person. Yuji couldn't believe his eyes, that person that mysterious person was dodging every single attack thrown at them with ease. As if it was the easiest thing in the world, the speed was incredible!_

_ The weapon slashed through Hecate and the other two in one easy swing. Yuji saw that whatever the weapon was it must have cost a fortune, there was gold here and there and the rest was black save for a couple of gems._

_There was a blinding light and then everyone fell to the ground unconscious. _

_Yuji woke up and quickly made sure everyone was alright. Whilhelmenia along with everyone else, except Shana, were already awake and moving._

_Whilhelmenia looked over to where the battle had just taken place and couldn't help but gasp at the sight. Everyone else followed suit, but only a couple gasped. _

_Hecate, Sydonay and Bel Peol were all laying on the ground, each in a puddle of crimson red blood. Dead._

_Nobody could believe it. How this one person could kill their three toughest enemies in just one battle. But that's exactly what happened._

_Getting over their shock, Shana was carried back to her apartment still unconscious. That was the start of her year long sleep. After she had been unconscious for more than a month, Yuji thought of it best to put her in the hospital in case she suffered internal injuries. Once all the necessary tests had been done the doctor told them unexpected news. She was perfectly healthy on the inside, the only injuries she sustained were cuts along her arms and legs. Basic battle wounds._

_They were all relieved, but were still really worried about her. If she hadn't had any internal injuries then why won't she wake up already? _

_For the next year she stayed in that same bed, in that same position with that same peaceful face._

**:End.**

"Gomen" Yoshida apologized as she handed the drink over to the flame haze. "You looked a little cold so I got one for you too"

"Arigatou" Shana took hold of the small hot can and quickly opened it before taking a sip. She just now realized how cold she really was.

"It's awfully early, what are you doing out at this hour?"

The flame haze walked over to the side of the river which had lots of grass growing there. She sat down and took another sip of her drink.

"I couldn't get to sleep for some reason so I came out for a walk" She said once Yoshida had sat down next to her. The grass swayed as a light breeze blew. The brown haired girl could now see how tired Shana looked and she noticed how tired her voice sounded when she spoke.

"Too much on your mind maybe?" Kazumi wondered as she turned and asked the flame haze with a small smile.

"Maybe.."

"So what are you doing out here?" Shana asked, not really paying attention to the answer. She knew Yoshida was an early bird.

"Oh I was walking my dog Kirka here" Said girl gestured over to the light brown puppy next to her. "I always walk her around this time"

Shana made a 'Hm' sound to signify her acknowledgement of the what the girl said as she looked at the puppy.

Kirka was staring right back at the flame haze with the most heart-melting brown eyes. Her tongue was sticking out as she was panting.

Shana eventually laid down on her back looking up at the amazingly perfect sky. There was something about that dog that she couldn't put her finger on. It was like the dog was trying to talk to her or ask her something...she shrugged it off knowing it was probably nothing.

The two girls laid there looking up at the sky in silence for awhile just enjoying the company each provided until Yoshida broke it by talking about the stars. Occasionally she would get confused at which were which but she still continued on.

Shana on the other hand...

She was trying really hard to listen to what Kazumi was saying, but she was slowly starting to lose it. It was that dog.

Kirka was staring at her for the longest time, and finally Shana had sighed in relief that the dog was looking away, aw but the flame haze slightly winced when Kirka trotted over and sat to her left then continued to stare at her.

What was that dog's problem? She swore Kirka wasn't even blinking!

Shana tried to ignore Kirka and went back to attempting to listen to what Yoshida was saying. Time went on slowly, every second felt like an eternity.

The flame haze could start to feel her eye twitching from the dogs constant staring.

Kirka lifted her paw ever so slowly then moved one step closer and that's all it took for Shana to spring up, turn toward the dog and point a finger at Kirka while nearly yelling, "WHAT?"

Kazumi was more than startled from the sudden outburst and had to put her hand on the ground to her right to keep from toppling over.

"Shana, What's wrong?" She asked looking from Kirka to the flame haze who was panting heavily.

"What's wrong with her?" Shana kept pointing to Kirka as Yoshida tried to understand what she meant.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she's been staring at me"

Yoshida looked at Kirka awhile before the edges of her mouth curled upwards into a bright smile. "I think she likes you"

"Eh?" Shana turned her head to look at the other girl, disbelief written all over her face. Noticing her guard was down Kirka ran and jumped up in the flame haze's lap, getting up on her back feet while placing her front paws near the flame haze's collarbone, Kirka started licking her cheek.

Yoshida started giggling at the scene while Shana was trying to get the pup off of her. Before you can blink the she is up off the ground and running around with Kirka not far behind.

Somewhere along the way the flame haze started smiling and laughing along with Yoshida. She wouldn't admit it out loud but she was having a lot of fun.

* * *

><p>Shana entered her apartment and went straight to her bedroom. She quickly changed and climbed into bed.<p>

All that running can really tire a person out.

If she could she would have cried out tears of happiness as she was out like a light when her head hit the pillow. Sleep finally caught up with her.

She had a very pleasant dream that night.

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><p><strong><em>Gomen if you were expecting Yuji to show up anytime, but I have decided to make this story nicely slow paced. Not too slow but not as fast as Red Albino. AND I plan to put more slow paced romance in between the characters, mainly Shana and Yuji <em>**

**_but I might put in some Yoshida and Ike...I don't know yet so don't expect it.  
><em>**

**_Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I apologize in advance if it takes me awhile to update. Ideas just hit me randomly, and so that's the only time I can really type out a good chapter._**

**_See ya till Chapter 2 :]__  
><em>**


	2. CH2: The Lemon Fortune?

**_Konnichiwa and all that good stuff~ So this chapter was kinda like the previous in the way that I had no idea what to put after 1600 words...and I'm impressed. It's now nearly 5k words. Longest chapter ever! Oh I'm so excited and pumped right now!_**

_**Enough of my ramblings(.) Enjoy! v**_

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><p>Shana slowly stirred awake, and after many attempts, she opened her eyes to be instantly confused. She looked around to see...well nothing really. Wherever she was it was pitch dark, and she couldn't see but a few feet in front of her.<p>

She squinted her eyes, as if it was a puzzle game and if she just looked hard enough she would find the key to it, but there was just a lingering darkness that stared back at her. Just where the heck was she?

Shana looked down to see that the comfy bed she was laying on before was gone. No surprise really, but what did kinda take her back was that the floor wasn't some dark misty cloud that you usually would appear on when you dream. Rather it was a midnight black tiled floor, and quite shiny.

Okay...that still didn't rule out the possibility of this being just some weird dream. Somehow this place seems familiar though...like she's been here before.

Something about it gave her goosebumps, and they aren't the good kind.

"Hello?" Shana called out seeing if anyone was there. Of course in a movie, no matter what, you never ever call out something. It always turns out bad when you open your mouth.

That's what her instinct told her, to just shut her mouth, but for some reason it wouldn't stay in. Almost like someone else went in her body and spoke it against her will.

However her voice just echoed. Now she was starting to get the goosebumps again.

Anyone in her position would have every right to be scared right about now, but fear was something that Shana barely ever had felt. It's not rare, but it sure ain't common.

Seeing nothing else to do she got up on her feet and started aimlessly walking.

And walking...and walking. The only thing that really kept her going was the determination to find out what was going on. She was definitely going to get to the bottom of this, whether she liked it or not.

Shana walked a couple more feet, still looking around her to make sure no one made a sudden ambush, and wasn't paying attention to where she was going. Next thing she realized she was sitting on her now sore butt.

Must have tripped, she concluded. But on what?

She looked around to see nothing. What the heck? is the train of thought that was running through her mind as she made her way back up on her feet, but not before muttering some incoherent words.

Walking several yards she finally rested a bit. Shana looked around to gather any kind of bearings she could, but when she saw nothing had changed she heaved a heavy sigh and closed her eyes.

What was running through her mind is and may remain a mystery, but when she reopened them a sense of deja vu washed through her.

There in the far distance was a very dim light. She felt the scene to be all too familiar, but for some reason she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

By the time she reached the light she was basically crawling, trying to catch her breath at the same time.

About mmm...5 minutes later...

Shana was slightly annoyed, slightly perplexed and slightly hungry. However she was more spooked out than anything. At The sight in front of her.

There was a chandelier hanging there. The memories with Alice suddenly rushed back into the flame haze, and her eyes widened a little. So Alice is around somewhere.

She looked around, frantically searching for the quirky fox girl, but that head full of dirty blonde hair was nowhere in sight.

Shana looked back at the chandelier. Now that she remembered the meeting with Alice this entire scene is different.

Instead of the gold chandelier from before the one hanging in front of her was black and instead of light bulbs there were candles around the entire thing.

And something was new here. There was a table. A small round table along with two chair, and everything was, again, black. The scene was rather Gothic looking to her.

Shana, though being cautious about it, sat down on one of the chairs. She nearly jumped when the sound of mechanical wheels turning filled her ears. It was coming from the table.

She stared expectingly at the table waiting for something to spring out or along those lines. The flame haze arched a curious eyebrow when the center of the table started coming up. It stopped when it was about 5 inches out.

She stared at the thing, and it didn't make any more noises for a couple of minutes. She leaned back in her chair when the side of the...well it looked to be a block of black cement, a section of the side started to come towards her like a hand was being outreached.

Shana looked down on the top of it when the thing stopped right in front of her. There on top of it was a bright yellow lemon.

For an entire 3 minutes she gazed at it bewildered as to what she was supposed to do next. She could just stand up and walk away or pinch herself to wake up, but something told her a simple pinch wasn't going to do it.

If she walked away then she'll always wonder.

So she carefully picked up the lemon and stared at it. The lemon in her hand nearly fell when the black block sunk back into the table in less than 3 seconds, startling the flame haze.

She continued to stare at the yellow fruit in her hand. Now what was she to do?

Shana tossed in the air a couple of times, not failing to catch it once, and that's when she noted that the lemon seemed to be a lot lighter in weight than the one Alice tossed to her in the past. She then got suspicious about it. Why would this one be lighter? Was there something in the other one that she got from Alice?

She flicked the lemon a couple of times to see if her theory was right, and it proved so.

The lemon was hallow.

The flame haze split the fruit in two and was a bit taken back. It indeed didn't have any of the fruit part inside of it, rather it was just the soft shell.

But it wasn't completely empty. A small piece of paper drifted down from the lemon and landed gracefully on the table top. It was but 2 1/2 inches long and maybe 1/2 an inch wide, it was folded too.

She picked it up and opened it. There was a small message on the paper that read:

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"

Shana didn't quite get it so she read it again and again and after the fifth time she reluctantly sighed in defeat, having no clue what the message had to do with her. She looked back at the table to receive another surprise.

There was a big red button and below it read; 'Wake up'.

"Finally" The flame haze muttered before pressing the button. She immediately felt dizzy and soon enough she blacked out as everything became fuzzy and dark.

******************************Shakugan no Shana*******************************

Shana awoke to see the familiarity of her bedroom. What'd you know the button wasn't a trap after all (AKA she just hit the button without giving it a second thought)

The shades were down but the sunlight still leaked in through the small openings as yet again the birds were chirping happily outside as if not having a care in the world but to keep singing.

The flame haze reviewed what just happened. So it was a dream after all. A little messed up at that.

She wanted to think about it a little longer but her stomach growled, wanting to be fed right away.

She quickly got out of bed, took a glance at the clock on the bed stand to see it read **1:13 pm**, and then she set out for her tiny kitchen.

After heating up some instant ramen the flame haze plopped down on her couch and turned the T.V on. Nothing was really on, but she wasn't paying attention anyway. Her mind was focused on that dream, well it's more like it's between a dream and a nightmare, and on the message.

'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step' Shana recited in her head over and over. She vaguely knew what it meant, kinda like if your aiming for a job and it seems like a thousand miles away the only way to get there is to start walking, and that begins with a single step, but what she couldn't grasp was how did that affect her? It wasn't like she was going to get a job.

After slurping down all of the ramen she grabbed some clothes and got into the shower. She was thinking about going out.

She was out the door 10 minutes later.

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><p>Shana walked through a shopping district, occasionally stopping to look at something in the window.<p>

After some time she saw a cosplay store. In her dream from the coma she went to one and it wasn't half bad, in fact it was kinda fun to try on the many different outfits and she wasn't much of an otaku.

Intending to have a little fun she went in.

* * *

><p>It was about an hour and a half later when Shana tried on the last of the cosplays that she liked and she was heading out the door when something to her right caught her eye. She looked over toward the dressing rooms to see Yoshida talking to one of the workers.<p>

Once the conversation was over the brown haired girl looked a little disappointed. Wait...What was she doing here? The flame haze quickly turned to face the front door leading out to the beautiful sunny day and started to quietly escape. She didn't have any reason either to be here except for a little fun, but still it would be slightly embarrassing to be caught in this place. Since Yoshida knew the flame haze wasn't a fan of the cosplay life.

Shana was just one step from the door as she reached her hand out to push it open, her hand was mere centimeters away...

"Shana!" Kazumi called out to said girl, waving her hand. The flame haze lightly sighed. 'So close...' and then she looked back at the door '..yet so far'

Yoshida made her way over to Shana. "Konnichiwa Shana, what are you doing here?"

The flame haze tried to think up a reason and when nothing came to her; "Nothing..really.." Her answer being very vague. She quickly spoke again once she saw Yoshida about to say something (thinking she was going to say something about Shana's answer)

"What are you doing here? The flame haze inquired suspiciously, although she wasn't expecting the result.

Kazumi_ blushed_. She started to slightly fidget with the strap of her purse, and didn't keep eye contact very long. "N-Nothing!" The girl quickly responded, and then started to wave her arms in front of her in a crossing motion kinda defensively.

This reaction instantly perked Shana's curiosity, however she dropped it for now since the brown haired girl immediately started to speak no more than a minute after as her stomach made a very audible growl. The girl's blush slightly darkened.

"Ah Gomen, I guess I'm a little hungry" Yoshida felt a tad embarrassed by her stomach's loud noises, and for the fact that Shana had giggled when she heard it. Her and said girl headed out the door. "What about you?"

The weather outside was absolutely perfect. The sun was high in the sky, the birds were out singing their hello's and it was very warm out, but there was a nice cool breeze blowing which made the temperature outside _very _enjoyable and comfortable.

"Now that you mention it I am a bit hungry" The flame haze said once they were out of the shop. She had been having the munchies before but now when she felt her stomach she realized the empty feeling.

"There's a cute little cafe around the corner" Kazumi suggested.

Shana nodded her head with a smile, a cafe did sound really good. With that the two girls headed straight to Cafe Aristo.

* * *

><p>Yoshida and Shana told the waiter their order and then once he left the two started chatting. Nothing in particular really- school, a little fashion, what's been going on lately...yea there really wasn't anything in particular they were discussing, more like a bit of everything.<p>

Eventually the food finally arrived and they started eating. Not more than 5 minutes after they did Yoshida's cell started beeping. She grabbed it from her purse and flipped it open to see a new message from Ike come in.

Once she was done reading it her eyes were noticeably wider; with excitement. She, as lady like and as politely as possible, shoved a couple more bites of her food in her mouth before tossing her phone back in the purse then picking it up and started dragging the flame haze out of the cafe, but before doing so she left money for the bill on the table.

"H-Hey wait!" Shana demanded as she was dragged out the door, not happy at all with the sudden action. Yoshida, knowing whats good for her, let go of the girl as they passed by a bench.

"Where are you trying to take me?" The flame haze asked slightly suspicious, and a bit taken aback at how strong Yoshida grip was. She would have never guessed that sweetly nice girl would actually be capable of a rather deadly grip. It was not much compared to her own however. She felt herself being a little stereotypic about the girl having a weak grip.

Yoshida's smile reached from ear to ear as she put her index finger right in front of her lips. "It's a secret"

Shana raised an eyebrow but said nothing, following Yoshida now.

* * *

><p>Along the way - or apparently when they were coming closer to the secret- Kazumi couldn't contain her excitement and ended up spilling the beans.<p>

The so called, but not anymore, secret was a movie. It was a show about a boy and a girl slowly falling in love, and it had a lot of cliche stuff in it. (well you get the idea...just call it a chick flick if you want)

It just came out and was overly popular so tickets were extremely hard to get...which is why Yoshida was so excited from the message. Ike had finally scored enough tickets for the group to go and watch.

By group; Yoshida, Ike, Shana, Yuji, Ogata, and Tanaka. Plus Satou was coming too except he was seeing a horror film in another theater room. He was _very _bored but when they told him what they got tickets to he immediately replied saying he was not _that _bored that he would watch a chick flick.

The three remaining guys weren't so thrilled about seeing it but Yoshida and Ogata talked them into going. The flame haze may be a girl but she wasn't all so crazy about chick flicks and those kind of movies, this one, from the previews anyway, looked to be decent so she didn't mind going and watching it with everybody.

*******************************Shakugan no Shana*******************************

The two girls arrived at the theater just in time. After spotting the rest they all made their way to the snack counter.

"I'm sorry but we only have three popcorn bags left" The boy, about 15, hesitantly said after the group had ordered 6 popcorns, one for everybody.

"That's not going to be enough.." Ogata pointed out a little worried.

"You all don't mind sharing, right?" Ike looked back at everyone and his tone made it sound like 'sharing' wouldn't be a big deal, but his face showed skepticism. They all nodded after a couple of moments while Satou had already gotten a drink from another cashier and was in his theater room.

They purchased the popcorn, and thankfully the person had enough cups for the soft drinks to go around. In the room they went.

* * *

><p>The group found only 4 seats available that were right next to each other, and after much debating, Yoshida, Ike and Ogata, Tanaka sat in them while Shana and Yuji were looking for 2 side-by-side seats for the both.<p>

Only 30 minutes of the 2-hour long movie went by and the flame haze along with the other girls were absorbed into the movie already, and Yuji's popcorn was half gone, even though he only got one handful out of it the entire time. Shana really couldn't help it though, Yoshia had pulled her out of the cafe when she had barely eaten her food and ever since they got to the theater she's been starving. He didn't mind, actually he found it somewhat amusing to see her so into a movie like this.

Yuji focused his attention back onto the big screen before she caught him staring.

30 minutes later...

The girls were getting more engrossed in the show by the second...along with Ike, who was trying to hide it but slightly failing.

Yuji was a little more involved in it too. He knew what was going on...vaguely, but it just didn't interest him the way it did with everyone else in the dark room. He and Shana finally found two seats next to each other in the very top left corner, right next to the wall.

He stared at the screen while reaching his hand into the popcorn bag to his right - which was between him and Shana -, his face twisted in confusion as he felt something really soft in the bag. He turned his head to the right and his eyes widen as the blood started rushing up to his cheeks.

* * *

><p>Shana didn't know why but she just couldn't take her eyes away from the movie. At some parts she wanted to shout at the girl to 'stay away from him' or along those lines, but that would be way to embarrassing so she kept it down with much force.<p>

With her eyes still glued to the screen she reached into the popcorn bag to grab some of the yellow puffs of pooped corn when she saw something happening in the movie and her whole body froze. The girl ran away from the boy and he chased after her until he grabbed her hand stopping her on a bridge while the rain poured down on the scene.

Shana was so content in watching that she barely noticed something against her hand in the popcorn bag. She looked to her left and her eyes widened while a dark blush graced her cheeks.

Her face was mere inches from Yuji's as their hands were covering one another in the bag.

They stayed in that position gazing into each others eyes, knowing they should move or this would look pretty bad if their friends saw them but yet neither really _wanted _to move away. Shana unconsciously started to lean forward, momentarily forgetting that Yuji wasn't her boyfriend anymore(since he was before but only in a dream).

In the background the boy was slowly leaning in toward the girl. He was so close when the girl slapped him on the cheek and then turned away. Ogata had jumped up from her seat along with a couple of other females in back of her and they all yelled to the screen, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? KISS HIM!"

The sudden outburst caused some of the other people in the theater room to cringe at how high pitched the girls were. However the yelling brought Shana back down to earth and when she realized what she was about to do she quickly turned away, leaning slightly to her right, blushing furiously. Yuji, for the most part, did the same.

For the rest of the movie the flame haze couldn't look at the screen without glancing over at the boy next to her so she resigned into staring at the wall next to her.

At the end of the movie a lot of the girls were crying(not sad tears mind you) including Yoshida and Ike was comforting her outside the theater room while Ogata was grinning and Tanaka looked as though he just woke up from a nightmare. Shana and Yuji refused to make eye contact.

"That was a really great movie" Yoshida commented between sniffles as she wiped her eyes to rid of the tear drops. Ike smiled as if agreeing.

"It was!" The dark brown haired girl agreed too, and Tanaka just made a 'Hn' sound which received an elbow straight to the gut from your's truly- Ogata. The grin was soon right back on her face just as fast as it had disappeared.

She was about to start going off on Tanaka when she noticed the flame haze and Yuji's weird behavior.

"Are you guys okay?" Ogata asked her voice laced with concern. She immediately raised a curious eyebrow when her voice seemed to have brought them back down to earth from whatever planet they were on since the two slightly jumped when she started talking to them. Now everyone's attention was drawn to the two.

"I'm fine" The duo said, it would have been in perfect unison if their voice's were on the same tone. Yuji's voice was slightly higher pitched which usually meant he was lying or was nervous while Shana's response sounded distant and somewhat passive.

Ogata shrugged and was about to walk back to the other, who were now focusing on something else, when she saw something that the two apparently weren't able to hide very well. She saw faint blushes on both their faces.

Her previously concerned frown turned into a Cheshire cat grin, and was about to blow the whole situation out of proportions when Shana beat her to it as she started talking.

"Well...I have to go now. See you guys tomorrow" She bid her goodbye as she briskly walked to the exit, she turned around and waved with a forced smile then turned and left. Yuji soon left after her before Ogata could chew any information out of him. Said girl watched them go their separate ways and she went back to the others, but the grin never left.

The rest of the group questioned her as to why Shana and Yuji disappeared but she just told them that they had a headache and went back home.

They all reluctantly didn't ask any more questions.

***************************Shakugan no Shana***********************************

It was not until about midnight did Shana feel tired enough to go to bed. Once she changed and did the nightly routine, she slid under the covers of her bed.

However it wasn't as she had hoped; she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened.

She was about to kiss him! Of course she done a lot of that in her coma but it had to be a different sensation from the real world or else she would have done it without a second thought...but that's kind of what did happen except she came to her senses before anything made contact...but yet she blushed when- Oh screw this!

She nearly kissed him, end of story.

Shana sighed as she laid on her back looking up at the emotionless white ceiling. They had finally become an item in her dream and now that she woke up she's back to square one. It seems like a thousand miles away to her. It would tak-*Click*

It clicked. She abruptly sat up with her left hand flat, palm up while her right hand was fisted and was on top of the other hand. It finally clicked!

'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step' The message finally made sense. It was never about some job it was about her! Not having something to do with her like a job.

Her way into his heart seems like a journey of a thousand miles but the only way to get there is to start walking, beginning with that single step forward. Like what happened at the theater earlier.

The flame haze couldn't help but let a small smile sneak its way on her lips. She finally solved the riddle(that's what it felt like to her).

Shana let out a hearty chuckle before laying back down and going to sleep. 'Just leave it to Alice to come up with a fortune lemon'

.

.

.

* * *

><p><strong><em>OMG! That was one of my longest chapters yet! Sweet ('v')<em>**

**_In reference to the last line; You'kno like fortune cookie, but instead the fortune was in a lemon therefore making it a fortune lemon? Lol xD  
><em>**

**_I hope it was good! Also I realized that my chapters for the story might be close, just barely, at or over 3k words EACH! But I want to make sure you guys pay close attention to that 'might' in the sentence. _**

**_I could barely finish the scene in the theater because it sounded SO CLICHE to me x\ But for the sake of the story and chapter I did it. Yay for me :) __  
><em>**

**_Sayonara until the next chapter! ;D_**

**_Oh and don't forget to review onegai! _**


	3. CH3: Now Rhyming? Oh fudge

**_Konnichiwa and all that relates! I have finally written chapter 3! Yay! Correction from last chapter= This is my longest chapter yet with over 6500 words, woot! ...Sorry I just get excited when I'm able to write so much in one chap. _**

**_First, I apologize for this taking sooo long for me to update. I just wasn't inspired nor did I have any idea of what to do. I actually scraped a 'attempt #1 of chap 3' because it sounded ugh! I just wasn't feeling it in that one. So that's why it took long for me to update, otherwise I would already be half way through chapter 4 by now :]_**

_**Misao: All I know is that it's supposed to come out in the fall of this year, but I have read so many things that I'm not sure anymore. It's one of those things that I just keep checking up on and when I see the first episode of the new season I squeal like a little girl! :3 ...I'm not joking :| I seriously will do that. I am praying it will be out soon and I would love for it to be in October! It's so close! But yet I dread the day I see season 3 of SnS because it's also the last season it will ever have! **_

_***Gets down on my knees, hands together, fingers interwined as I shake them above my head with animated waterfalls of tears coming down my cheeks* Why?**_

_**It's going to be awesome though! Anyway's,**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

><p>Shana opened her eyes to find herself still sitting in the same black chair from her previous dream. She turned to her right to see the same black block of cement with the side still sticking out, holding another bright yellow lemon.<p>

Grabbing the lemon, Shana broke it in half to see yet another thin piece of paper in it with a fortune typed out on it.

The flame haze didn't waste any time opening it and reading the fortune. It's been a couple of days since her time in the theater and every single time she went to sleep she wound up right back in the same spot on this black chair again and again. By now she knew opening up the lemons were harmless actions to take once here so she doesn't ever hesitate anymore.

But Shana was still confused by the whole thing still. If Alice had been dead for over 500 years now then how was the girl able to get inside her dreams like this and basically communicate with the flame haze? Was it the fox girl's spirit or something? It could very well be, with the things that have happened within the last couple of months that are pretty bewildering, and sometimes just plain messed up.

It seems as though anything it possible now...well except being able to slam a revolving door but that's beside the point.

Shana had explained everything that involved Alice during her coma to Whilhelmenia and the older flame haze seemed shocked when she heard. Ever since then Whilhelmenia said she would research it, but there wasn't much to look into since it had gone down in a dream and there wasn't any physical evidence of Alice being there. But she was determined to find out what was going on, plus Alice was a precious friend to Caramel-san so that edged her on to solve the mystery even more.

Whilhelmenia did the liberty of clarifying what had happened to Alice as well. The pink haired woman said that one day Alice had gone to clear up a mess in a city that was about a couple of hours from where they had settled down at. It was supposed to be a 4 day job to fix but it had been 2 weeks since they had heard or seen of the fox girl. Whilhelmenia had gotten worried and suspicious of why she hadn't returned.

About two days later the Manipulator of Objects had gone looking for the girl at the city, around it and along the way to it. What made Whilhelmenia worry more was that 4 months earlier, Kukaii, had been killed. Alice had been depressed for a very long time before one day she was like the rainbow in the sky. Nothing but smiles, laughs, and enthusiastic words. You wouldn't have believed what had happened happened if you saw her then.

When Whilhelmenia arrived at the city she got very worried. The 'mess', which was a denizen or two eating away at people existence, was still there. Nothing had changed. It wasn't like Alice to just neglect her duties.

That day she was left with only a single question going through her mind a mile a second. Where was Alice?

After searching and searching for days on end she finally found a clue, but it nearly broke her heart. Going along in a river peacefully was a black, with some white markings, jacket, which is the one Alice had been wearing when she went out. Then a couple of days later they found her scythe in a town on the other side of the country.

Whilhelmenia had no idea what happened to the fox girl by that point. Nor did she really want to think about it for the chance of Alice's dirty blonde hair appearing stained in her dark red blood. Ever since then the Manipulator of Objects had rarely shown emotions, always keeping the same poker face on display. It was not until she met Pheles did she start to soften up more and showed more smiles, however, it was not until Shana came along did Whilhelmenia turn into the person she is today.

The flame haze sighed, coming back to reality from her short flashback. What she had been told only seemed to further bewilder her now.

Shana looked down at the piece of paper in her hand and it read;

_'Don't be afraid, Love will lead the way' _

She made a drawn out 'Hnnn' sound after finishing reading it. Yet again she didn't quite get what it will do, but the only way is to wake up and see what the day is gonna throw at her to prove this fortune true. Wait..Were all the fortunes really true? No type of 'seeing the future' crap is ever true. Then again there is a high chance it could be psychological. Since she knows what it says then she ends up revolving her actions around it? Maybe?

Demo...The flame haze got a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that it wasn't just Alice helping,and/or, messing with her, but rather it feels like there is a bigger reason behind the lemons. A hidden truth that is gonna change everything..

For now Shana just shrugged it off and hit the 'Wake up' button.

***************************Shakugan no Shana***********************************

Her cell phone going off awoke the flame haze that morning. It was Yuji.

She grabbed the vibrating cell and flipped it open.

"Mushi mushi?" Shana rubbed her eyes a little to rid of the sleep that was still there.

_"Shana? Did you just wake up?" _Yuji caught on to how tired she sounded.

"Kinda."

_"You do know it's almost 2 in the afternoon" _

"Oh really?" It didn't really surprise her since the last couple of days she has been getting up later than she ever dreamed of. She looked out her window after pulling up the blinds to see the day was nothing but gray skies and rain. It looked pretty gloomy.

"I'm fine" She replied when he asked if she was alright. "Not to be mean but what's the reason you called me?"

_"Oh yea!" _Apparently he forgot. _"Pack up a swimsuit and a change of clothes and meet us out front in 10 minutes"_

"What's the-"

_"Anyway I'll see you there, l- Uh..Bye" _And then he hung up.

Shana stared at the phone. Why does she have to pack up a swimsuit and some clothes? It's probably a surprise otherwise Yuji would have told her why. Wait, didn't he say 'us'?

Yuji on the other hand mentally smacked himself after hanging up as he came this close to saying 'love you' at the end.

Not really interested in thinking about it anymore the flame haze did what he told her. One swimsuit and a change of clothes, check. She packed them into a dark green, with a pink Mercedes sign on it, messenger bag.

She quickly got ready, and grabbed a umbrella and headed out the door within the 10 minutes. Heading down the stairs, she could see the front of a car slowly coming into view.

"Ohayou Shana-chan" Yoshida greeted the flame haze once she was with the group.

Shana said 'Ohayou' back before looking at the car with a questioning expression.

"We're going to the beach!" Yuji said before she could ask about it.

The beach? It's pouring down raining and they want to go to the beach?

But wait. The closest beach to them is about a day's drive away, which meant that they would be out of the storm. After remembering that Shana nodded back to him. Hmm...Nobody seems to have any plans these days.

Then she noticed someone new.

"You must be Shana, I'm Mihara Kazumi" The young lady introduced herself. She had blonde hair and green eyes that looked like emeralds. Mihara looked to be in her early 20's, and had a very hour-glass figure.

The flame haze smiled and nodded. _'There was always another Kazumi?'_

"Let's go!" Ogata exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air with stars in her eyes.

They all surrounded the car before realizing a small...or a rather big problem. The car was a 5 passenger sedan and Shana, Yuji, Yoshida, Ike, Ogata, Tanaka and Yoshida's older sister, Mihara, was going.

Since Mihara was 24 and had her driver's license, plus it was her car, she was the one behind the wheel. Ike sat in the passenger seat while Yuji sat behind him and Tanaka behind Mihara. Yoshida was seated in the middle seat between the two, leaving the laps of the two boys empty for Ogata and Shana.

Ogata situated herself on Tanaka's lap, so excited that she didn't really feel embarrassed. The flame haze on the other hand was a little nervous to sit on Yuji's lap.

Eventually ,having everyone in the car, they drove off to the 'Hirima Bay' beach.

The whole ride was a bit awkward.

The entire time Shana had her head resting between the passenger seat headrest and the side of the car with the seatbelt.

With her facing down nobody was able to see the crimson blush that was practically melting her cheeks. Ogata had a very slight blush but she kept her focus out the window.

**30 minutes later...**

Half an hour had gone by and any tension that was in the car had packed it's bags and gone away because everyone was talking, throwing jokes around, or just laughing from the stories.

Mihara turned out to be a very funny, outgoing type of girl but was still very polite and kind.

Eventually Shana was forced to lean back because her back was killing her from slightly bending over for such a long period of time.

Yuji was slightly startled by it, but he soon relaxed as she did too.

The flame haze couldn't believe how good it felt to straighten her back if just a little, completely forgetting she was sitting against Yuji.

It was now the boy's turn to blush. And it didn't help at all when she decided to roll the window down which caused her hair to continuously blow into Yuji's face.

He had to admit though that her hair did smell good, like apples and cinnamon.(1)

Ogata stole a glance back at Tanaka and sighed. He fell asleep already. Along with Ike in the front seat.

She continued to look out to the window.

****************************Shakugan no Shana**********************************

6 hours later around midnight...

Ike had been awake for about an hour now when he looked over at Mihara. Her eyes were drooping as she fought to keep them open.

"Ano Mihara-san?"

His voice seemed to wake her up as she looked over at him.

"You look very tired, I think I should take over from here" He suggested.

"Ah, Arigatou Hayato-kun" She said while smiling at him, the happiness of being able to go to sleep overwhelmed her as she slowly pulled the car over on the side of the road. They quickly changed seats and as Mihara was buckling her seat belt she noticed how funny and cute the scene was in the back seat.

She quietly giggled as small smile made it's way on her lips. She patted Ike on the shoulder to get his attention. "Look" She whispered and pointed toward the back when he looked at her.

Tanaka had his face pressed against the window by Ogata's foot while her other dangled off the seat. She had her head resting on Yoshida's lap while her legs were on Tanaka's. And she had a ear-to-ear grin plastered on her face while a little drool escaped at the corner of her mouth.

Yoshida had her head resting on Yuji's shoulder as she was clinging to his arm.

Shana had somehow managed to turn around in her sleep and was now straddling Yuj's lap while her head rested on his chest.

Yuji had his head resting against the window while his right arm was wrapped around the flame haze's waist.

The two girls both had peaceful faces while the boy had a small smile.

"Awww" Mihara barely managed to keep her voice down. The car started going again and she was out like a light.

Ike smiled once he saw her, and looked in the rear view mirror. He felt kinda envious of Yuji. Two very pretty girls are clinging to him for dear life and he doesn't notice.

Though Ike would help Shana any way he could so she could get closer to Yuji since Ike loved Yoshida. But he pushed the thought aside, it just seemed selfish to do that in a way.

He sighed. It's probably about time he upped his game.

* * *

><p>Around 4 o'clock in the morning Shana stirred from her sleep.<p>

She opened her eyes to see Yoshida facing right back at her.

The flame haze blinked a couple of times until she felt her pillow moving and she quickly sat upright. Luckily Yuji was still asleep as he slightly repositioned himself to get more comfortable.

She blushed once she noticed she was still straddling him, but didn't move, not really wanting to.

Shana looked at him. His face illuminated such a peaceful expression.

"Must be having a good dream" she concluded just above a whisper.

The flame haze slowly leaned in closer and saw the faintest of smiles that tugged on the corners of his mouth. She couldn't help but slightly smile at it. He's probably dreaming about the beach, that would explain it.

"Sh..ana.." Yuji mumbled in sleep. Her heart practically skipped a beat when his arm around her waist tightened and pulled her closer.

_'He's dreaming about me?' _She thought both perplexed and happy.

Happy because - hello?- it was her who he was dreaming of.

Perplexed because what did it mean exactly? If a guy your in love with is dreaming about you then does that mean he likes you to? She hoped so.

Her cheeks were blazing red and she tried so hard to get her heart rate back to normal. If it kept up at this speed it would be at the beach long before they reached it. The flame haze took deep breaths and it helped.

Seeing it was still dark outside she leaned against Yuji's chest again and closed her eyes. Letting his heartbeat be her lullaby.

******************************Shakugan no Shana********************************

"Wake up! Wake up!" Ike started shouting so as everyone heard him and opened their eyes. "Welcome to Hirima Bay!"

Everyone was really happy to see the beach after such a long car ride.

Soon enough Ike parked the car in the bay's parking lot and they all carried their swimsuits with them as they approached the beach.

The beach was covered in nicely tanned sand that looked soft. The waves gracefully rolled in and in the more distant park of the ocean you could see big title waves crashing down while white seagulls flew around.

Much to everyone relief there wasn't that many people out today. It's a bit of a surprise since it's very hot out, at least over 100F.

The group changed before finding a place away from most of the people.

The water felt really nice since it was cold, and within the first 10 minutes everyone was already having so much fun in the water under the sun.

About an hour and a half later they got hungry and came back under the big umbrella for lunch. Ike came prepared and brought everyone a homemade bento's, putting extra special time into Yoshida's.

"Wow! This is delicious!" Mihara complimented after the first bite before scarfing down the rest.

"It is!" Yoshida agreed. Ike blushed slightly and smiled at her. The rest followed in suit of Mihara and scarfed down everything.

"Hey anybody up for a boat ride?" Hayato asked everybody after finishing lunch."There's a place that you can rent some small boats down the road"

"That sounds fun" Mihara said looking around at everyone.

After agreeing, everybody left to walk down to the dock place.

* * *

><p>"Only 2 people can fit in each boat.." Tanaka commented when they arrived at the place. There was a long dock and several two passenger boats on each side. Rowboats...<p>

They all looked at each other before Ike spoke up.

"Ok..2 people each, then fine! C'mon we can just pick the pairs and still enjoy the boat ride!" He said enthusiastically with a cheerful smile.

Soon they were all out on the boats going along the water. Ike and Yoshida took a boat together, Ogata and Tanaka after them, and Shana and Yuji in the last.

Mihara didn't go in one claiming she got seasick, but insisted everyone else have fun. She ended up going to a ice cream parlor and waiting.

For awhile the three boats were in a group, but somewhere along the way they split up.

* * *

><p>Yuji rowed the boat along at a good pace while Shana sat opposite of him, leaning on the side with a smile that gracefully tugged on the corner of her mouth. She reached down, letting her fingertips glide along the water.<p>

He watched and smiled. Shortly before Shana had awoke from her coma in the hospital he realized what that feeling was whenever he looked at her or the times when he would go to visit her and just hold her hand and caress it. Praying she would wake up.

He realized it could be that he wanted to be more than just partners in battle and friends. It wasn't until the day she looked at him after coming out of the hospital, when he saw her eyes open again, did he remove all doubt of the feeling inside. Then he remembered he had always seemed to feel like that toward her, nearly the whole time he had known her. That feeling was always there, he just failed to notice.

It was _Love_.

They continued going along with a comfortable silence.

* * *

><p>Yoshida sat across from Ike watching the seagulls fly overhead while listening to the calming sound of the ocean waves.<p>

"It's so peaceful" Ike commented as the boat started floating in the one spot, his arms were starting to get tired.

"It's beautiful too" She added after nodding in agreement.

"Just like you" He said with a small smile, his voice dripping with sincerity. She blushed.

He mentally sighed in relief. The words came out before he knew what he was saying and by the time he did all he could do was smile.

She smiled back.

He momentarily forgot to breath. Her smile had always seemed to do that to him. The truth being, he was madly and utterly in love with Yoshida Kazumi.

* * *

><p>Ogata sighed happily as a light breeze blew in her face and through her hair.<p>

She always enjoyed coming to the beach. The sand between her toes, the perfectly warm ocean water, the sounds of the seagulls, the cool breeze that would sometimes blow, and just having fun under the sun.

The sounds of a camera brought her back to reality from her daydreaming. She looked to the right to see Tanaka with a camera in hand, looking off to his left, taking picture after picture.

The girl made a pouting face at this. He wasn't even paying her any attention!

She turned to the side of the boat again and dipped a finger in the water, her expression one of equanimity.

He looked at her.

*******************************Shakugan no Shana*******************************

Another half hour went by and Mihara was getting very worried about everyone. They still had not returned and they have been gone for more than two hours now.

About an hour ago Mihara was watching the T.V, which of course was on the news channel, when the local weather report came in.

The man on the screen said that there was going to be a storm coming in very soon, and it was producing lightning. And guess what? It was the same one they ditched in Misaki.

She went back to the dock as soon as she heard of it and hoped they were getting out of the boats once she got there, but somethings were never supposed to happen sometimes.

Mihara got to the place and still saw that the three boats were missing. Ever since then she's been waiting next to the small shabby looking building, scanning the horizon for any signs of her sister and the others.

The storm was just coming in, and it was starting to sprinkle when she spotted one of the boats coming in.

Once it got closer she saw it was Ike and Yoshida. But sadly none of the other boats were behind them.

"Are you two alright?" Mihara asked them once they got out of the boat and on the dock.

"Hai, we noticed the dark clouds coming in so we quickly came back" Yoshida explained.

"I hope the others will be alright" Mihara said.

"Me too" The younger Kazumi said apprehensively.

"Don't worry, they'll be coming into the docks before you know it" Ike's confident voice belied the worry he was feeling inside.

***************************Shakugan no Shana***********************************

Yuji slowly opened his eyes to be met with a very rocky and slimy ceiling. "Eh?"

He looked to his right and saw Shana laying next to him, looking like she was still asleep. Sitting up he discovered the reason for the rather odd ceiling, it wasn't one. Well technically not a 'house ceiling' but instead the ceiling of a cave. A dark one at that. He tried to remember how he got here, but all he could remember to was going out on the boat ride.

Yuji got up to his feet and started to circumspectly wonder around. He found out that the cave went back quite a ways, but he didn't walk to far in so he's wasn't sure how far back it really went.

He looked at the opening of the cave and realized something. There was no boat.

What happened to the boat? He thought about it and came to the inexorable conclusion that it had drifted away and was now lost at sea somewhere.

"_Great_" He muttered as he rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Yuji walked to the edge of the cave and looked out to see if he could see the Hirima Bay. Much to his dismay he couldn't see anything except water. Rain was being dumped outside in the motherloads as lightning stuck here and there followed by crackling thunder.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before heading back over to the flame haze's sleeping form.

He contemplated whether or not to wake her up. She looked to at ease that he decided against it, it wasn't like they were in serious danger or anything. The cave would keep them safe from the lightning and rain but he noticed the temperature was rapidly falling.

He shivered. Looking around he tried to find anything that would help preserve heat or any type of burnables that he could make a fire with, but to no avail.

Yuji decided to explore further into the cave in hopes of finding something to help with the temperature drop.

It was so dark he could barely see two feet in front of him as he walked through a very slim 'hallway' in the cave . He finally came up to an opening that was slightly more lit up, but it was still blindingly dark.

The temperature inside the large room in the cavern was what caught the boy's attention. It was considerably warmer, but it was still barely considered 'cold'.

He turned around. You could still see the front of the cave and the water from where he was which was a good thing, they could see if help would come around.

Yuji walked back to the mouth of the cavern and looked to see Shana still unconsious.

He had to admit, she looked so cute when she had a sleeping face on, but (though he wouldn't yet say it to her) he thought she was always cute at times and all other times she was beautiful. He smiled and carefully picked her up bridal style and carried her back to the larger room, making sure as to not wake her.

Setting her down, he sat next to her.

* * *

><p>Yuji opened his eyes to realize he had fallen asleep. Probably from all the rowing and stressful situation it caused a great amount of fatigue.<p>

He also realized something else. His current position.

His face was but three inches from Shana's and he had his arm around her waist while their legs were slightly tangled with each other. Much to his cruel luck at that precise moment the flame haze opened her eyes.

She stared at him for a long time, seeming like she was half asleep, before her eyes narrowed. She slowly looked down to assess the situation. Before he could think of anything to say, she sprang up onto her feet and turned around while pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Pervert!"

"Whoa wait a second. It's not what it looked like" He tried to explain, but the glare she sent his way made him shut up. Though he did notice her cheeks were a bright red, if from embarrassment or anger he couldn't tell.

Shana sat against the side of the cave and looked around. It was dark so there wasn't much to look at.

She shivered. Wearing only a swimsuit made it even colder in the cave.

* * *

><p>After awhile the tension in the air finally got to Yuji as he ever so slowly inched his way toward the flame haze. "Shana?" no response.<p>

He sighed before looking up. "It's not-"

"Shut up" She cut him off, but her voice wasn't as cold as it usually was when she was mad.

"Listen, I-"

"Shut up"

"But do-"

"Shut up"

"Don-"

His persistence really got on her nerves for some reason. "Uresai,Uresai, Uresai!"

Yuji reluctantly sighed in defeat. He knew he wouldn't be able to explain anytime soon.

Shana was mentally kicking herself. She isn't mad at him but the words coming out of her mouth wouldn't stop. Her mind said one thing but out came the complete opposite.

She guessed she probably overreacted in the first place, and she almost instantly regretted calling him a pervert. She knew he would never have done anything to any girl in their sleep, but for some reason it came out. Like someone went in her body and said it.

But how was she supposed to forgive him now? He's probably mad at her for not letting him explain. She hoped it wasn't like that.

The flame haze heaved a slightly depressed sigh and stole a glance over at the boy. He had his eyes closed like he was thinking.

She inched over toward him while she thought of what to say. Maybe an apology for overreacting? Would he forgive her let alone listen to it? Then she would have to think of another way. Maybe-

Her thoughts were lost as he looked over at her.

"Shana listen I-" Yuji tried again to explain but was cut off by her leaning over and giving him a peck on the cheek before looking away.

"I overreacted. I'm sorry" She said, each word coated with sincerity, before looking back toward him with a 'sorry' face. "Forgive me?"

"As long as you forgive me" He replied with a smile.

She nodded and smiled back at him.

They could both feel something in the air and then it happened. The whole top of the cave lit up a misty light blue with dozens of illuminating crystals shining brilliantly.

Shana looked around and then saw pathway. She grabbed Yuji's hand and they both headed down it. Crystals lighting the way.

*******************************Shakugan no Shana*******************************

The flame haze and mystes found themselves in wooded area after following the path out of the cave. There was another path heading to the left and they followed it until...

They appeared back on Hirima Bay beach sand. Turns out they never went far.

Not long after they found their way back to the docks.

"Oh my gosh where have you two been, we have been worried sick" Mihara shouted when she spotted Shana and Yuji coming up, she quickly gave them a hug feeling a great deal of weight lift from her shoulders.

"Thankgoodness" Yoshida breathed out.

"What happened to you two?" Ike came and asked the flame haze and mystes.

Shana and Yuji breifly looked at each other before Yuji spoke. "When the storm hit we...got lost" He said it with a small chuckle at the end.

"It's a good thing nothing happened to you guys out there!" Ogata said, relieved her friends weren't electricuted to a crisp.

They all got changed and the girls headed to a smoothie shop. The guys, however, had to look for the missing boat since it was a rental.

Nobody thought they would find it and after awhile they didn't so the owner of the boat rental place put them to work for a couple of hours...along with a suffiecient amount of money added into the mix.

* * *

><p>"Hey, have you guys ever heard of the 'Hidden Loves Cave'?" Mihara asked. The questions caught the other girls attention as they looked over at her with curious faces as they sipped their smoothies.<p>

"Really?" She asked in disbelief. Once they all shook their heads she gave them all a you-might-be-crazy look before continuing.

"I'm surprised since you all seem to have your eyes on the boys" Mihara stated with a knowing grin as the girls slightly blushed. "Oh well, I'll tell you about it"

"You see, there is an urband legend of a cave that's along the coast here. People say if two people go into the cave and they both have true love for the other than the cave will glow on it and that's why it's called the 'Hidden Loves Cave'" She finished and took a sip of her smoothie. Shana nearly chocked on her's when the older Kazumi told of the cave. That is exactly what happened when she and Yuji were in that cave, but is it the same cave or one that is creepily similiar to it?

She would have pondered it more but Ogata spoke up, making her thoughts vanish into thin air.

"Is it really true? What do you mean 'it will glow on it'?"

Mihara shrugged, "As far as I am aware of it's true, and I'm not sure about the glowing part. It's just what I have heard from other people and they never say anything more than that"

Shana looked out the window she was sitting next to, her eyes soon locking onto Yuji. Since the smoothie shop was just across the street the girls had a good view of the boating place.

"If they have true love for each other than the cave will glow on it?" She mumbled to herself as she watched him.

* * *

><p>It eventually became time to leave the next day as they all packed up in the black sedan again and drove off back to Misaki.<p>

The day part of the trip went by smoothly and surprisingly fast for the passengers, and before they knew it it was night fall.

Everyone was fast asleep except Mihara who was still driving. Ike was again in the passenger seat, Yuji behind him and Tanaka behind Mihara.

Yoshida was again in the middle.

However their sleeping positions changed dramtically from the previous night. Ogata had her head resting on Tanaka's lap while her body was stretched out along the seats and her feet were laying on Yuji's lap. Yoshida had her head resting on Tanaka's shoulder while he had his head resting on her's.

Shana had her legs over Yuji's lap while she was leaning against Yoshida. Yuji, however, had the side of his head resting against the flame haze's chest while his arm laid across her legs.

Mihara giggled at the scene.

* * *

><p>About half an hour later Shana slowly opened her eyes.<p>

She immediately widened them once she saw Yuji, but didn't say or do anything. No need to wake everyone else up and get embarrassed more.

The flame haze looked down at him and calmed down considerably once she noticed he was still asleep. She continued to look at him as a small smile made itself known on her face as she thought of what she had learned about that cave.

"Could it be?" She wondered and left it at that as she went back to sleep.

********************************Shakugan no Shana******************************

Shana finally arrived home and she immediately went to her dresser draw. She pulled out a notepad and looked down at it.

She had come up with the brilliant idea to keep track of all the 'fortunes' in a notepad so she wouldn't forget them at any time.

"Don't be afraid, Love will lead the way" She recited out loud. A grin danced upon her lips as she realized what it was referring to.

The cave. It was a little frightening in the dark cave, thinking your miles away from help. But the cave light up because of love and the crystals lead the way out to safety for her and Yuji.

It was simple and obvious yet puzzling and subtle.

Just leave it to Alice to do that.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Oh my fudge! <em>**

**_...sorry couldn't help myself. Anyway's don't forget to review cause that's what keeps me going! _**

**_(1)= Everyone seems to do like 'Her hair smelled of strawberries' and I didn't want to do that so I decided to put in apples n cinnamon. Also I'm not sure if the whole Yoshida having an older sister seemed out of place or anything, so forgive me if it seems like that to you. _**

**_Again forgive me if the chapter seemed at all rushed, or if any OOC-ness occured. Don't forget to review! They are the only things that keep me going! :]_**

**_Sayonara until the next chapter! ^.^_**


	4. CH4: Good

**_So I had a very ugly case of writers block for this chapter, but there is something I have learned. APPRECIATE writers block. Some of my best chapters are the result of it. _**

**_Okay, I thought this came out awesomely but I will leave it up to you guys to be the judge of that. Misao: OFFICIAL? Yay! (^.^)b I can't wait!_**

**_Shakushana98: I'm glad you like them :D!_**

**_Now to do something I keep forgetting to do every chapter,_**

**_DISCLAIMER: If I owned Shakugan no Shana do you think I'd be writing this fanfic? Enjoy!_**

* * *

><p>Appearing in the pitch black room, sitting in the same chair and taking a lemon off the same table was starting to become a routine for the flame haze, it wasn't necessarily a good one either. She sighed as she picked up the yellow fruit and cracked it open.<p>

It had been nearly a week since she went with everyone to the beach and during the last 7 days it's been a little weird. Ever since she learned of the meaning of the cave, it was always awkward being around Yuji. It was only a little so luckily he, or anybody else, didn't noticed it.

Now let's get on to the weird part of the week.

For three days, after the cave day, she wasn't appearing here in this room anymore. Shana for the first time in a couple of weeks had actually had a _real _dream. Or rather dream_s_.

For three whole days she wasn't getting anymore lemons which baffled her beyond belief. No more fortune lemons? Is the world coming to an end?

...probably not. If it was, everybody and I mean _everybody _would know. Well you'd think so anyway.

BACK to the situation at hand now..

Shana wasn't sure what to make of the, what she called, 'Free Days' that happened. She thought Alice screwed something up on the other side and so the flame haze wasn't able to enter this room, well it wasn't really a room per say..more like a black abyss with a floating table and and chairs and something like that...who knows! Let's just call it a black pit. Nah...Crap, back to the 'back to the situation'.

All in all it was pretty confusing. The flame haze thought after the second night that it would never occur again; That whatever happened to make those dreams happen had broke or better yet, destroyed.

The thought brought a smile on Shana's face...but to say that everything that happened wasn't fun would be a partial lie.

When she's living in the moment, no. After it happened and she was able to look back at it and laugh..yes.

It was fun, for the most part.

A little voice inside her head, however, told her today was going to be the start of something bad. It was the same voice that told her whatever is behind the reasons why Alice is making these partial dreams, partial nightmares, it was BIG. And it's gonna be nothing they would have ever expected..

But it's just a little voice right?

...Right?

The flame haze rubbed her temples in aggravation. All this thinking about this and that was really starting to give her a major headache. Plus the confusion didn't make it any better, also know as the icing on the cake.

She swore sometimes this was all just a huge puzzle game that was dedicated to the fox girl's entertainment.

A puzzle? The thought never struck her as anything of importance until now. Why?She thought about it.

Was all this _just _a puzzle? Her sick sixth sense, which has been acting up a lot lately, started tingling. Though she highly doubted it was for Alice's amusement. After the time she spent in the coma with that girl, there is one thing she learned. Sure, Alice _did _like to play a _lot _of jokes, pranks and did a lot of teasing but she knew better than anyone when a joke is taken too far. Meaning she would have never gone this far just to play some prank.

The three 'Free Days' struck as important to to her sixth sense as well. Shana, after a lot of thought, decided that it wasn't Alice's comedian side showing.

However she just couldn't dismiss the idea of everything being a big puzzle, nor the free days, out of her mind.

Something was going on, something that is bigger than everyone and she has absolutely no idea what! It irked her that she couldn't figure it out. Thinking the sooner you solve the riddle the sooner you can help. But without the knowledge of how to put the pieces together, you can't, no matter what, find out what the 'something' is.

Cutting Alice momentarily out of the picture is starting to make the whole situation just down right bewildering.

Everything. It's definitely a puzzle, and the difference between this being the fox girl's puzzle and someone else's is that unlike Alice's...this one, if you put the pieces together you get a picture.

The picture could be anything now though. In a way she did have a lot of the pieces, but yet she couldn't put it together.

Speaking of puzzles, what about Yuji?

That was a completely different matter that Shana always thought of. How is she supposed to confess to him? You did it once flame haze, you can do it again! Haha, no. As she has learned, there is a _fine_ line between confessing in a dream and in reality. In a dream if he rejects you, you can just wake up and try again the next night. But in the real world?

You pretty much have 'it's now or never' signs everywhere. One chance. You screw up, you can't always fix it. You have another chance? Don't screw it up again!

That's all you will get in reality. Why is love so complicated? The flame haze noticed she was always asking herself. Unfortunately that question has but one possible answer. It's complicated because the person makes it that way!

If you didn't over-think things that shouldn't be and looked more into things that needed to be studied, and played the right game then it wouldn't be such an issue these days.

That brings up another thing involving love. People WILL tell you in order to win his/her heart you need to play your cards right. But the important thing is to know what _game _your playing.

Sometimes you'll play a card and it will do the opposite of why you laid it, or if it happens more than once, you really need to look at the game box again to see if your playing the right game.

Don't trust it all the time though. Sometimes you don't need to know the game to play your hand to their heart, heck, sometimes there isn't even a game to be played, just random card laying! That could get confusing though.

But one thing you need, and I mean _need_, to remember is to look study your cards before playing anything! You won't get anywhere without knowing what's in your hand.

Shana grabbed her head as it started pounding. Peace. It sounded like a foreign word now. She doubted anything would be peaceful for a little while.

Complicated. It was like a nagging mother(no offense). No matter what she couldn't get rid of it, the more she tried, the harder it came down on her.

Confusion. Why hello new best friend!

Love. An acquaintance.

Serenity. Who are you?

Alice. Congratulations! You just became my new frienemy.

Yup. As of now the fox girl will always be classified as a frienemy.

Mainly because, how could Shana call her an enemy when that girl helped her realize her true feelings for the Mystes boy?

...The rest considers her an enemy.

Frienemy, it didn't feel 'right' but would do.

The flame haze sighed in annoyance. All or if any problems she is enduring they always seem to surface in this voided place. It's just too quiet! Kinda like in a horror movie or the calm before the storm.

She glanced down at the paper and read it's contents out loud.

"A good deed goes a long way"

Not really mystifying but okay. The flame haze hit the big red button.

********************************Shakugan no Shana******************************

Shana opened her eyes before quickly shutting them from the sun that was blinding. She got up and headed over to the window about to shut the curtains when she looked out and noticed how beautiful the day was.

_Some fresh air will do some good_. The flame haze grabbed a change of clothes before heading off into the shower.

After finishing her daily routine, she left out the door and into the burst of sunshine that was abundant outside.

The flame haze walked down the sidewalk by lots of different shops. Occasionally she went in one but didn't last very long before coming back out, it's not like she was looking for something in particular so going into the store's was just plain boring.

A couple of hours had passed by and Shana was thinking about heading back to her apartment. Maybe watching T.V would cure her case boredom. She stopped and looked around.

After mindlessly walking around she had ended up in the part of the city's shopping district that barely ever was crowded. As of now she hadn't seen a soul, there wasn't any open shops either. Just 'Out of Business' signs hanging in the windows of lifeless stores. No wonder no one ever came down here, it kinda gives you the creeps.

It's like a ghost town but yet a few blocks back down the street it was Sunnyville, overloading with people every second.

The flame haze turned around and as she was starting to walk, back down to the populated section, she heard a scream.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong with you?" Mihara asked as she entered her little sisters room.<p>

"Do you really care?" Yoshida retorted, laying on her bed while staring at the ceiling with a blank expression.

"Nope" The older girl popped the 'p'. "Mom just wanted me to tell you lunch was ready"

"Okay"

Mihara turned around and headed to the door. "I'll just leave now.."

"Okay"

"And I probably won't see you anytime soon today" She grabbed the door knob and glanced back at the girl on the bed.

"Okay"

"Leaving now"

"Okay"

"So cya"

"Cya"

"I'm going~" Mihara had only her head sticking in the room as she slowly closed the door.

"You really want to know that bad?" Yoshida asked with an annoyed sigh, now looking over at the girl.

"Kinda" The elder Kazumi said with a sheepish smile, then she nearly ran and sat on the edge of the light brown haired girl's bed while said girl watched her the whole time.

Yoshida raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything.

"Well?" Mihara asked impatiently.

"That time we went to the beach has been bothering me" The younger Kazumi was hesitant to say.

"What do you mean?"

"You know when the storm had come, right?"

"Yea.."

"And that we all came back but at different times?"

"..Yea"

"Well who were the first to reach the docks?"

"Eto..You and Hayato-kun were"

"Right! Who came in after us?"

"Umm...it was 10 minutes after you guys got out of the boat when Matake-chan and Eita-kun came back"

"Right, but when did Shana and Sakai-kun come back?"

Mihara looked thoughtful for a second before the whole reason of her little sisters dilemma dawned on her. She tried to hold back a smirk. "They never came back to the docks in their boat"

"Exactly! But how long was it until they showed their faces?"

"As I recall it was a good 5 hours" Yoshida looked like she was about to explode and was going to say something until Mihara spoke up before the other girl could, not trying to hide the knowing smirk that appeared on her face. "And you're worried they were doing stuff during that time, right?"

Yoshida groaned.

"I'll take that as a yes"

"So? What should I do?" The younger Kazumi eagerly asked.

"You need to fight fire with fire!" Mihara exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Fire with fire?"

"Yes! And I won't lie to you. Shana-chan is a very pretty girl so it's not gonna be a breeze of a battle"

"Then tell me what I need to do to win Sakai-kun's heart!" Yoshida said latching onto her sisters arm, sounding more desperate with each word.

Mihara looked startled by the sudden action before sweat-dropping. "Don't worry, All you need to do is play a little dirty"

"WHAT?" Kazumi looked flabbergasted by the idea. "I could never do something like that!"

The older girl, after freeing her arm, stood up and walked over to the door.

"How could you even suggest that?" Yoshida asked, her eyes still wide.

"All's fair in love and war" Mihara shrugged, then she left the room.

The other girl stared at the place her sister was just at with an incredulous look on her face.

* * *

><p>Shana ran in the direction she heard the scream sound from. You couldn't really forget that scream, it was both high-pitched and a bit nasaly meaning it could have come from a mere kid.<p>

The flame haze stopped and looked around. _I thought I heard it come from over here_

She looked left and right before starting to run again when she heard the scream. But this time it was very short, like it was cut off.

She looked around before she spotted the opening to an alley and she headed straight for it.

As soon as the flame haze had arrived to the alley something hit her legs hard. She looked down to notice a very young little girl, maybe about 5 years old, and she looked a bit short for her age. The girl had apparently knocked into the flame haze and was now on her butt on the ground.

The little girl had dark brown hair that was tied up in pigtails and she had a matching set of warm chocolate eyes, but all you could see in them was fear.

She looked up and saw older girl, her eyes widened and she instantly shot up and hid behind the flame haze.

Shana was surprised by the girl's speed, but her attention was quickly drawn back into the alley when she heard a voice.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" A man, with the appearance of a thug, approached her. "Trying to run away are we?" He asked to the pigtailed girl.

Said girl was now clinging onto the flame haze's leg as if for dear life.

"It looks like we'll have to punish you" Another man started making his way toward the two girls. He was shorter and a lot more chubbier than the first guy. He smirked looking at the flame haze. "And if you don't give her back we will do something to you that you'll never forget" Man #2 said as his eyes had a creepy hungry look to them, and she knew what it meant.

Shana could practically feel his dirty hands ravaging her body through her clothes as he continued to eye her.

His gaze then landed on her chest and a small frown appeared on his scarred face. "A bit...small"

The flame haze could feel a vien pulsing. "Uresai! Uresai! Uresai!". _You will be sorry. _The two guys started laughing._  
><em>

To say she was mad is such an understatement that you would insult her, to say she was pissed... your getting warmer.

Shana murderously glared at them. If looks could kill, she would have been on her merrily way a long time ago.

The men looked at her and their laughter stopped cold. She smirked in victory.

"F-Fine! W-We'll let you g-go if you hand the little girl b-back over!" Man #1 stuttered, fear whelling up in him.

The flame haze glanced down at the small girl as she cowered even more behind the older girl.

"You see there is a difference between me and you" She said pushing the little girl in the back, signalling for her to go to safety. Shana looked back at them. "I'm smart and you guys are complete morons"

Did they really think she was going to just give them back the little girl when they were obviously going to do something to her?

"Your going to pay for that!" Man #1 barked before drawing a pocket knife and charging at her. She smirked and dodged his attack with ease. The guy's eyes widened when his knife didn't make contact with anything and he heard her whisper in his left ear.

"Baka"

She elbowed him in his side, causing the man to drop his knife. She then did a 180 degree kick staight to his gut making him double over in pain.

She ended it with a punch going staight up and coming in contact with the mans jaw, sending him spiralling through the air and hitting one of the alley walls.

The flame haze searched for the other man and narrowed her eyes once she saw he had grabbed a hold of the little girl.

He was pointing a knife at her.

Shana, with one hand, grabbed the hand that was holding the knife while she elbowed him in the face with her other. The guy immediately let go of the little girl and tackled the flame haze to the ground. He held the knife to her throut as blood ran down from his nose, he smirked. "Not so tough now are you?"

She gave him a smirk of her own. "More than you'll ever be"

She kneed him in the stomach and then during his state of pain, kicked his groin area very hard. Since the guy never let go of his knife, the flame haze punched him in the face before shoving him off of her body.

Shana was about to deliver another blow when she heard police syrens. Quickly she started running out of the alley, but stopped when she saw the girl chasing after her.

"Don't leave me alone onee-chan!" The girl cried. Seeing nothing else she could do, the flame haze swung the little girl on her back before dashing away as the police arrived. She didn't believe that the police would accuse her of being apart of the two men, like a gang leader, but there was a small chance they would and she didn't want to have to go through the time to sort it all out. Though whoever called the cops might remain a mystery..

***********************************Shakugan no Shana***************************

Shana walked along until she found a bench and set the girl down. She sat down next to her.

"Thank you for saving me Onee-chan!" The little girl said with a ear-to-ear smile.

"You don't have to thank me..." The flame haze trailed off. What was the girl's name? "What's your name?"

"Ah! Yuki" The little girl said proudly.

"Yuki, where's your mom and dad?"

"My daddy is on a trip far away. My mommy brought me and my wittle sister to the park to play today, but those mean people took me away from her" Yuki finished with a pouting face.

The flame haze giggled at how cute she was when she did that. "Well then I think we should go look for your mom"

Yuki nodded, smiling. "Let's go" Shana said getting off the bench and looking back at her. It's not like she had anything else to do so she decided to help Yuki find her mother, it would keep her from getting bored again.

"Yosh!" The little girl exclaimed excitedly while pumping a chubby little fist in the air.

Three hours later...

The flame haze and Yuki had now been searching for hours on end and still had not caught sight of the mother.

Just as they were passing a diner Yuki's stomach made a very audible growl. Shana laughed.

"You want to go in and eat?" She asked pointing to the diner, to which the little girl eagerly nodded. The flame haze was actually starving and was happy to be able to get some food in her aching stomach.

They were seated in a booth when Shana looked out the window and realized something. It was late.

The sun was setting, making the clouds around it glow with a orangish red hue. The last of the light was shining but for not much longer. Searching for someone at night isn't an easy task.

The flame haze sighed. _What am I going to do?_

She looked at the little girl who was happily munching away at her food. She smiled. It was like the little sister she never had.

* * *

><p>After eating their food the waitress came back and took the empty plates away while asking with a forced smile, "Can I get interest you in any desert?"<p>

"Um N..." Shana trailed off when she looked over to the little girl who was looking back at her with big puppy dog eyes.

The flame haze rolled her eyes in a playfully-defeated way, and looked back at the waitress. "I guess whatever she wants"

Yuki made a victory 'Y' before looking to the lady and telling what she wanted. The waitress nodded and left.

Until the desert came the two girls were talking.

The flame haze lightly sighed, so as to not be heard from the little girl. _What am I going to do about you?_ She mentally asked herself while looking at Yuki, who was happily eating what she ordered.

As if God had just answeres her, Shana heard the bell on the front entrance door to the diner dingling. She looked up and saw a sight she didn't think she would.

"I'll be right back" She told Yuki before scooting out of the booth and making her way to the front.

"Didn't think I would see you here" The flame haze said while playfully poking the person in the side.

"Shana?" Yuji asked, startled by her voice since he didn't think he would run into her here. Not that it was a bad thing mind you.

"The one and only"Something about Yuki seemed to bring a different side of her out, and saying she didn't like it would be a white lie.

"So what are you doing here?" He asked her curiously. "Having dinner?"

"No I'm planning on robbing the place" She playfully rolled her eyes.

He laughed. "Seriously?"

"Nah" The flame haze shrugged. Then her face lit up. "Maybe you can help"

She started dragging him back to the booth. "You see I'm in a little situation and could use some extra help"

They stopped once they were in front of the booth, but Yuji was still looking at her and didn't notice Yuki when he spoke. "What kind of situation?"

Shana pointed to the booth. He glanced over but then did a double take.

He looked at the flame haze with a what's-going-on? face. She sighed before sitting down in the booth opposite of the little girl while pulling the boy with her.

"Eto..Yuji this is Yuki" She introduced him to the little girl. When she looked up the flame haze continued. "Yuki this is my...friend, Yuji" So badly she wanted to add a boy to the friend but managed to catch herself from blurting it out.

Yuki looked at him wearily, but it dissapeared when the other girl gave her a reassuring smile and nod.

"Konnichiwa" She said with her cheerful smile.

"Ah..um Konnichiwa" Yuji greeted back awkwardly. "We'll be right back"

He grabbed a hold of the flame haze's hand before pulling her beyond ear shot of Yuki.

"Who is she?" He instantly asked.

"Her name is Yuki"

"And why is she with you?"

She sighed. "Some guys snatched her away from her mother so I'm now helping her find her mom"

Yuji's face reflected one a shock, which insulted Shana a little but she didn't say anything. More like mildly glared.

He immediately replaced the shock with one of surprise but then to one of curiousity. "Wait, what happened to the guys to kidnapped her?"

She grinned. "I took care of them"

The Mystes boy raised an eyebrow but didn't say anthing.

The two headed back to the booth.

*************************Shakugan no Shana*************************************

After Yuji finished eating he payed for the whole check and the three headed outside to begin the search for Yuki's mother.

They were walking along the sidewalk, the little girl happily skipping ahead of them, when Shana looked over at Yuji.

He looked deep in thought, he almost looked bothered in a way.

"Are you alright?" The flame haze asked, her voice layered with concern.

She seemed to wake him up as he slightly jumped when she spoke. He looked back at her and tried to smile but failed. "I'm not sure. I feel like I should be remembering something but I'm not"

She made a 'Hmmm' sound in reply.

Then silence.

Shana jumped when he exclaimed very loudly, "I know!"

"What?"

He grinned at her before gabbing her hand and racing off somewhere with Yuki in tow as well.

* * *

><p>"Mama!" Yuki exclaimed when a women came into view. The lady quickly turned around and she ran toward the three.<p>

"Yuki!" She called out with tears in her eyes. Anybody could tell that the woman had been crying, frantically trying to find her child, but not having much luck.

The two reunited in a hug, the lady lifted her little girl off the ground and held her tight. Not wishing to experience the same pain she was going through 5 minutes ago.

After some time she finally noticed Yuji and Shana.

She looked to them with relieved and overjoyed eyes. "Thank you! Thank you for returning my little girl! I was so worried!"

They smiled at her.

"Where did you find Yuki? I looked everywhere" The lady asked curiously.

"Well you could say, she found us" The flame haze replied, keeping her answer vague as to not worry the woman. Yuki was not physically hurt in any way nor did she seem hurt at all, it seems that Shana had gotten to the scene before the men were able to do anything to her yet. So long explanation short, it wasn't that necassary to tell the lady of the guys. The flame haze figured she'd go down to the police station later to tell of what happened. That way the men won't be let loose.

After some times Yuki and her mother finally said their goodbyes and started heading down the sidewalk when the she turned around.

"Wait! What's your name Onee-chan?" The little girl nearly yelled so the flame haze could hear her.

Shana looked back at the girl. _What's the harm?_ "Shana"

Yuki smiled. "Arigatou!"

The flame haze let a small smile adorn her face as she walked back toward her apartment with Yuji.

"It was nice of you to help that girl find her mother" He commented after some time in silence.

"No, I was just planning to let Yuki fend for herself" She said sarcastically.

He chuckled. "I get it"

"How did you know where Yuki's mother was?" Shana asked, very curious to the answer. He slightly shurgged.

"I ran into her on my way to the diner, she told me her little girl was missing and she wanted me to help. I tried helping but we got nowhere so I headed off to the diner after promising her I would keep a look out for the girl. And then I ran into you guys" He took a deep breath in from lack of oxygen.

The two continued to chat about different things until they arrived at the flame haze's stopped before the pathway that lead to the apartment building.

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Yuji asked, trying to keep his tone casual but slightly failing as he sounded a bit hopeful.

"Maybe"

Silence enveloped the two for awhile as neither of them wanted to say their goodbyes, but knew it would come sooner or later. They gazed into each other's eyes and started to involuntarily lean in.

He swooped down and placed a sweet kiss on her cheek.

The flame haze could feel the heat radiating of her face, knowing well that she was probably blushing. "What was that for?"

He smiled. "For being you"

Her blush darkened as she could hear every word was dripping with sincerity and fought back the urge to just kiss him already. Instead she smiled. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight"

And they went their separate ways, not noticing the dark figure that had been watching them.

* * *

><p><strong><em>:D<em>**

**_REVIEW! Onegai~_**


	5. CH5: Heart Break

_**I was feeling pumped from the last chapter so I immediately started on this one after ch4. I have really been wanting to do this one for a long time, but had to get in some chaps before this so..yea. **_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Shakugan no Shana! - goes and cries in a corner -**_

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><p>Crack.<p>

Read._  
><em>

_'Everything is okay in the end, if it's not ok, then it's not the end'_

Yet another lemon said on the paper.

Assess.

And Press.

Also known as the C.R.A.P routine.

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><p>The flame haze awoke the next morning early. Why you may ask?<p>

Because High School for our characters had begun again!

She got up and grabbed the uniform before heading off to the shower. Once done she got ready, ate a quick breakfast, she headed out the door.

She met up with Yuji and, who was there as well, Yoshida. The three started the walk to their school, having not been there for the entire summer, who knows..they may have done some changes. Nah, but people can dream can't they?

Conversation was mostly about everything and anything really, but, Yoshida excluded herself from it after awhile, being lost in thought.

_What am I going to do? _She thought worriedly, recalling her little sisterly chat with the older Kazumi. _How could she suggest I possibly play dirty?_

_Maybe I won't have to. _She knew there was a chance that she was just getting her hopes up, but she couldn't help it. Always think positive! That's what she tells herself.

_"Alls fair in love and war"_ She remembered Mihara saying. Of course she wanted to win Yuji's heart, have him tell her he loved her forever and always, but to play dirty...she'd just feel like she was cheating. That's exactly what it is probably too.

_Why does my rival have to be Shana-chan? _The brown haired girl asked herself. The flame haze and mystes always had a 'special' connection she noticed. Well they should have since they are like partners in a battle.

How could she possibly compete with that?

What really made her a bit jealous was last night, and yes, she saw the flame haze and Mystes right outside the girl's apartment building.

"Yoshida-san! Are you OK?" Yuji's voice brought the girl back to reality, and she noticed she had been lagging behind the two.

"I'm fine" Yoshida replied and caught up, engaging back into conversation. She didn't really want to think about everything in the fear that she will just end up with no hopes for a love connection between the Mystes boy.

Soon the three arrived at the entrance of the school. The gates were decorated with balloons and there was a big banner that said, 'Welcome back!'.

They met up with Ike and Ogata before all of them went inside to see their classes sheet.

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><p>Before you know it 12:00 rolled in and the teenagers were now eating lunch.<p>

"Sakai-kun!" Yoshida called out when said boy walked into view. He came over.

"Hai?"

"The sensei told me to put away the volley balls that were used in gym period today. Could you help me?"

"Sure" And the two walked off to the gym.

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><p>The balls were collected and they had headed into the small storage building, now placing the balls in their rightful baskets when the door slid closed.<p>

It caught the two's attention and Yuji headed back over to it. He pulled and pulled but the door wouldn't come open.

"It's locked" He concluded.

****************************Shakugan no Shana**********************************

Something was off. Really off.

The ending bell just rang meaning school was over for the day, and the flame haze was waiting by the gates to walk home with Yuji.

As of now it's been nearly 20 minutes and she still hadn't seen him. Actually from lunch on she hadn't seen, nor heard anything from him and there was no way he was avoiding her.

At least she hoped not.

But, then again, he didn't have a good reason to in her opinion. Sure some awkward moments as well as those romantic moments happened, and some false accusations were made(only once), but she wouldn't believe he would be avoiding her.

What if something happened? This made the girl slightly concerned. She shrugged it off though. He was fully capable of taking care of himself in a fight, he was probably just doing some work for a teacher or something like that.

**An hour later...**

Getting tired of waiting, Shana pushed off the gate she had been leaning on and went back onto the school grounds. Something wasn't right and she was going to find out what.

Deciding to look for him, she first went to all the teachers still remaining in the building. No one had had him do any errands.

She then went searching all over the school.

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><p>The sun was setting and the familiar colors of burnt orange, red, and a dash of yellow were glazing the white clouds around the dark orange sun that was half way out of sight.<p>

The teachers left awhile ago as well as every student except three had, leaving the school building looking lifeless and lonely.

A storm was brewing in from the south, slowly making it's way to the city. It seemed to sense a need to be there..

Shana rounded the corner of the school building to see nothing. She walked around and then went up to the side of the storage building before turning toward the wall of it and kicking it very hard out of annoyance and frustration. Something about why she couldn't find him irked her in a way, but what got all the emotions mixed is that she had not seen Yoshida come out of the entrance to the school either.

At the time she didn't think anything of it, but as the day drew on, certain thoughts started to plague her mind.

Could something have happened to him? Did something happen to Kazumi and he went looking for her? Were they together? Were they...

She shook her head too rid of the thoughts. A feeling she never liked always welled up inside her when she thought of them being together in any way other than friends. The flame haze didn't really know why she was so scared. Maybe it was the thought that if he happened to love the brown haired girl then he wouldn't hang around the flame haze so much..he might even leave her alone.

That is the one thing that she had discovered ever coming to this city and making the friends she did. Shana would never admit it out loud but lately a foreign feeling had made itself known and she didn't like it. She was afraid. Scared that she would be alone again.

A flame haze is a one person job, though Whilhelmenia stays with her, most of the time the Manipulator of Objects was always researching or heading off to different countries. For the majority of the time, leaving the younger flame haze by herself.

The happiness her friends brought her made this feeling start. The fear of being left alone again. The mere thought of going back to the lonliness was almost unbearable, sure she never noticed it before. Always devoting her time to getting the job done and nothing remotely similiar to socializing, except before she had become a flame haze.

Shana growled loudly, mad at herself for letting the fear work it's way into her mind like a worm. She kicked the wall again even harder then the last time before no more than 5 seconds later, hearing a feminine shriek come from inside the building.

The flame haze instantly raised her eyebrows.

She nearly ran to the door and tried to open it but found it was locked. _What if someones hurt?_

This thought made the flame haze try and yank the door, a lot harder than before, and was surprised to see it didn't budge.

Seeing no other choice she kicked the door down with much force, it didn't resist as it fell to the inside ground of the storage building with a loud 'Thump'

To say Shana was surprised would be a downright brutle understatement; to say she was shocked? Almost there.

She was the two combined, plus stunned to the bone yet she felt like she knew it was coming. The girl didn't, _couldn't, _blink.

Yoshida was laying on her back on the ground and beside her there was a fallen rack of basketballs. Yuji was directly on top of her, one hand beside her head holding him up while the other was groping her left breast. Both were looking at each other with scarlet blushes that probably reached past their neck.

Upon hearing the door land on the ground, the two looked over to see Shana standing there with wide eyes.

***********************************Shakugan no Shana***************************

**Right before this happened...**

Yoshida and Yuji had now been trapped in the storage building for, what they estimated from their growling stomachs, nearly 4 hours.

They mostly killed the time with off and on talking, but after awhile they were involved in a lengthy conversation. It wasn't like they hadn't tried to escape.

The building had one window visible which was to high for either to reach and to small for Yoshida to crawl out of. They tried the door for who knows how many times but to no avail.

It was like someone put bricks on the side of the door as well as a stick so you couldn't slide it open. But they quickly dismissed the thought, nobody really had a reason to, and if they did it to be funny then there are going to get what would be coming. If it was only a joke. Yuji highly doubted it though.

The chit-chat had been cut short when the two heard noises coming from the outside followed by a 'thunk' on the wall behind a basketball rack(which had balls on it).

Curious, Yoshida got up and walked toward where the sound came from when she heard something just beyond the white cement. Before she knew it there came another 'thunk' even louder and the force from the whatever made that sound caused the rack to sway and come crashing down.

Yuji made a quick dash over to the girl, seeing it was to late to run out of the way, he shielded her by throwing his arm over what he thought was her shoulder(he's in front of her), and used his body as a shield. Then the rack came down on them as the girl shrieked.

After...

He opened his eyes to be met with Yoshida's widened ones as she blushed hardcore. After realizing their position he mimicked her. Then the door was brought to a crashing collision with the ground.

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><p>Shana's bangs hung over her eyes making them no longer visible to the others.<p>

The silence lingering was so thick not even a butcher knife could cut through it, but the worst part was it was so still. It would make the dead look like drunk teenagers at a party with blaring music.

Not being able to contain herself, the flame haze grabbed what was nearest to her, which happened to be a metal pole, and walked up in front of the two.

"It's not what it looks-" He tried to explain but was cut off by her suddden action.

She swung the pole and hit the boy over the head very hard. It wasn't hard enough to seriously hurt him, though she didn't feel like she would care if it did, but it would leave him a big, very sore, bruise and bump later. It failed to do any real harm since she couldn't put her full strength in it.

"OW!" Yuji yelped in pain. "What was that for?" _VERY stupid question._

He looked at her and swore he saw a single tear roll down her cheek before the flame haze turned around and ran.

"Shana!" He jumped to his feet and gave chase to the black haired girl. By then the storm had centered itself above Misaki city and drowned the place with cold rain.

She ran and ran, hearing his calls die down in the distance after sometime. Tears were cascading down from her eyes by now as she couldn't get the images of Kazumi and him out of her mind.

Once the flame haze saw it, her feelings instantly acted up. She was angry, confused, annoyed, frustrated, scared, but most of all she was hurt.

It felt like someone had ripped her heart out and was tearing it into little peices right in front of her. Her insides turned and twisted painfully and she had felt tears already stinging the corners of her eyes when she walked up to the Mystes boys in the storage.

After running for awhile she ended up back at her own apartment. She opened the door and closed it behind herself, making sure to lock it before bolting straight to the bedroom.

The flame haze grabbed hold of one of the pillows and buried her face deep in it, letting the tears fall freely.

A little while later she heard someone knocking hard on the door, but she knew who it was already. Yuji called out for her to open the door but he was only met with very faint chocked out sounds, and silence.

He tried for a couple of hours before sighing in defeat,knowing she wouldn't open up any time soon. And if he continued to knock on her door while shouting then she might just murder him.

The Mystes boy turned around and headed back down the stairs to see Yoshida standing there.

"Ano Sak-"

He shook his head and brushed past her. She knew he wasn't neccassarily mad at her, but she couldn't help the tears that managed to escape and gracefully glide down her cheeks. The guilt she felt, thinking it was partially her fault for the flame haze's current state, she left and went back to her house. 'Their probably worried sick' she thought.

Shana felt somewhat relieved that he left, but the tears continued to fall like twin waterfalls. She turned the light out and got under the comforts, burying her face back in the pillow as she cried herself to sleep. Not caring that her clothes were soaking wet.

.

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><p><strong><em>It tore me up inside to write this, BUT it's all apart of the plan :]<em>**

**_REVIEW! _**


	6. CH6: Aw

**_Disclamier: I do NOT own anything about Shakugan no Shana. There I said it so leave me alone _:|**

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><p>Yuji woke up the next morning feeling horrible but, not having much of a choice, he dragged himself out of bed and went to school.<p>

The previous night wouldn't stop replaying in his head. Over and over he thought of how it could have gone but it was in the past and the past can't be changed. It wasn't really his fault that any of it happened.

That rack fell and he tried to protect Yoshida from getting hurt. He may not love her but he values her a great deal as a friend. How he is supposed to explain that to Shana? He had no idea.

He figured no matter how much he would try to talk to her, she wouldn't listen or believe a word he says.

_Why do I always have to mess things up? _The Mystes boy thought angrily to himself. A short while later he arrived at school and caught a glimpse of the flame haze when he went inside.

After what happened it really shocked him to see her here. She's doesn't exactly need to go to high school because, let's face it, she knows a heck a lot more than any of those teachers do. So why is she here?

In between classes as well as during them the boy tried to talk to her but she would always blow him off, glare at him making him shrink back in fear, do her usual 'Uresai, Uresai, Uresai!' or just plain out ignore him. Honestly speaking it was starting to get on his nerves. It felt like she was treating him like he just killed Whilhelmenia right in front of her, though in the back of his mind a little voice told him that if he actually did that then he wouldn't live to know what kind of treatment he would've gotten.

Yuji confronted her a couple of times but didn't get far. He tried to corner her, but the key word being _tried_.

At the rate things were going he didn't know whether there would be any friendship to save by the time he got through to her.

More than once the light brown haired Kazumi tried to talk to him, at first being hesitant and skeptical but as the days drew on she was starting to act like nothing had happened. He noticed how she tried to make moves, though subtle, he ignored them. It sickened him to see her acting like that. Happy, Cheerful, always trying to crack jokes or trying to be around him more than usual.

It was like she was happy to have the flame haze out of the picture if only for a short while. She _enjoyed _it like it was part of some elaborate plan, if he didn't know any better he would have said she planned for the stuff that had happened to happen...but he didn't.

Yoshida was the always nice, shy, timid girl and not in the least bit devious or bold. So he never gave it a second thought.

Yuji felt like he was slowly breaking a part piece by piece ever since that night. He needed her. After awhile he couldn't say Shana's name anymore, the one that he gave her! He would never forget that day for as long as his heart continued to beat. But at the mention of her name a single memory flashed in his mind that ripped his heart apart even more.

Her face. That single tear. Those heart broken eyes. He would never forget them.

The Mystes trudged through the school hall that lead out to a newly built courtyard. Being completely immersed in his thoughts he didn't notice there was another person sitting down at one of the tables in the far back.

He sat down at a random table and sighed, more exhausted than depressed.

You would never believe one night could change everything unless you were the one who saw it.

A gentle hand on the shoulder startled him as he looked to the owner of it.

"Hi Ogata-san" Yuji greeted with an obviously forced smile.

"Hey" Said girl greeted back then sat down next to him. She studied him for a long time until breaking the silence by asking, "What's wrong with you lately?"

She had a strong theory but didn't know the whole story so she couldn't exactly say she 'knew' what was going on with him.

"Nothing" He replied, sounding slightly distant. She was not buying that.

"Oh come on! You have been acting so depressed and gloomy. There has to be a reason for that!"

"Really it's nothing" He finally looked over at her. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest with a perfectly arched eyebrow. Put everything together and you get a do-you-really-think-I'm-that-stupid? Ogata.

"Okay, Okay. You got me" He gave in with his hands in the air like someone was pointing a gun at him, but his voice was one of someone who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

She smiled in victory and urged him to continue. He sighed for the second time that day.

"Look I just have some things to sort out that's all"

"What kinds of things?" Ogata wasn't one who would pry into someone's personal business but his behavior lately had been way off the norm.

The boy looked at her with slightly wide eyes, as if taken aback by her question, but decided he probably needed someone to vent to, he continued.

"Do you think you could give me some advice?" He asked to which she nodded eagerly.

Taking a deep breath in he said, "If there was a huge misunderstanding and someone got really mad about it but they never knew it wasn't what it had looked like yet they wouldn't listen to a word of what you were to explain, how do you explain to them it was all a misunderstanding?"

The girl looked like she was contemplating it before she glanced back somewhere behind him before sweat dropping. "Let me guess. Something happened between you and Shana-chan?" She asked, her voice changing in volume(AKA she started talking loudly)

His head dropped down a little as he replied, "Something like that"

She knew she probably wouldn't get the answer she wanted but tried anyway as she scooted slightly closer to him. "What happened?"

To her surprise, he spilled everything. The errand, the locked door, the talking, the banging walls, the basketball full rack, the moment of trying to be a hero, the moment of realization, then the moment of heart break. Once done he started explaining what had been happening the last couple days with the flame haze's glares, and behavior.

"What am I supposed to do?" Yuji asked her, sounding utterly lost.

She put some thought into it before looking up at him. "You do love her, right?"

"Of course I do" He replied a bit loud as if it was the most obvious thing in the world without a seconds hesitation. He blushed before looking away and could faintly hear a gasp which he figured came from Ogata.

"Well?" He looked back at her and she had a very wide spread smile.

"Well what?"

The girl rolled her eyes in annoyance. Why did he have to be so clueless sometimes? "Tell her!"

"Seriously?" His tone indicating she just told him to commit suicide.

She grabbed his hand before pulling him off the seat and started walking to him which made him back up some steps. "Yes! I'm as serious as you are about Call of Duty"

Funny story. Sometime back Tanaka and Satou had a study group at their house, which included the Mystes.

He had finished his work pretty quickly and by that time Satou had given up on his pretty much. The brown haired boy had convinced him to play a game called 'Call of Duty' with him and Yuji accepted. Though he kept getting killed, mostly him killing himself by accident, he got hooked on the game. Once you learn the controls and get you first online kill then it's becomes really fun.

Everybody knew he was very serious about it and that's why someone got the game for his birthday while another person got him an XBOX 360 system to play it on. Needless to say no one saw him for a couple of days.

He decided to ignore the part about the game and focus on where he was backing up to before the girl in front of him started speaking.

"Actually I should get going. I need to do some things before lunch is over" She said in a bit of a rush while looking down at an invisible watch. She ran toward the door leading back into the school building, him watching her go, before she turned back around.

"Yuji! Don't tell her you love her unless you mean it!" Though Ogata was smiling the whole time, she said it solemnly before disappearing out of sight.

"Why?" He quietly asked himself not being able to understand why she would think otherwise. _I do mean it. With all my heart._

"Because I might do something crazy like believe it"

Yuji whirled around instantly at the sound of that voice. It was none other than the flame haze herself who had been sitting at that table in the back. She stood in front of him and looked him in the eyes, having heard everything.

She took a small step forward, hope was hidden behind those beautiful eyes the Mystes had come to love. Her voice and face were identically skeptical. "Do you really mean it?"

His first instinct was to just put his arms around her and hug her tight, never to let go for the fear she may not return again. But his second instinct was him repeating 'I love you' over and over and over and pulling her close until he died from too little oxygen.

Though the first was more appealing and some parts of the second were, he decided to go with neither.

He pulled her into a tight embrace before saying just above a whisper; "I do".

Her eyes went wide and she felt her heart start beating faster. She slowly returned the hug before he pulled away.

Yuji pulled away and looked at her again and using his thumb, he wiped away a couple of tears from happiness that managed to escape. He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek before smiling at her.

She smiled back and his heart jumped with joy. He was surprised he wasn't jumping around and shouting victory cries already.

They both gazed into each others eyes for what seemed like forever when a voice brought them back to current time.

"Ne Shana-chan! Could you help me with something?" Ogata called out to the flame haze to which said girl walked over to Ogata. Leaving Yuji to find a way to release all the joy he felt inside.

Once the two girls were aways from the courtyard Ogata nudged the shorter girl with a smirk. "So?"

"So what?" Shana faked innocence. Truth be told, the purple haired girl(1) had been able to wrench the story out of the flame haze, who knows how she did it, and had made up a plan. Though it was supposed to take place somewhere else and a little differently.

Still she's not the type of person to pry into others business unless it was seriously doing something.

Ogata playfully rolled her eyes before skipping ahead of the other girl.

"How did you know it would turn out like this and not down the drain?" The flame haze asked, genuinly curious.

Ogata nonchalantly shrugged but once her back was turned to the shorter girl, her face broke out into a grin. She thought to herself; _'Somethings are just easy to predict'_

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><p><strong><em>(1)= I always thought Ogata's hair color was purple, but not until recently did I look at a picture and see that it was brown. I still say it's purple :3<em>**

**_Hope you enjoyed this chapter more than the previous! REVIEW!_**


	7. CH7: Gasp Worthy

_**Sorry about the delay for this chapter, it's been pretty busy around here late :/ Enjoy!**  
><em>

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><p><em>Shana found herself in a long stretched hallway. Tall windows went all the way down providing the only source of light the hallway had. <em>

_The flame haze looked around. The place didn't seem familiar nor did she even know where she was. Not seeing any other choice, Shana started walking. _

_The windows were, for the most part, covered by something so no one could see out. The lack of light the hallway had made it dark, and a bit ominous from how quiet it was._

_ Seeming not affected by the creepy atmosphere, the flame haze continued on. _

_Some time passed before Shana was able to see the end of the hallway. As she got closer she realized the light that came from the opening was in fact sunlight, meaning the hallway led out to a garden area perhaps._

_Shana stepped out of the ominous place and finally was able to look around and maybe even find a clue as to where she was. _

_As soon as she did, she found something she wouldn't have expected._

_The area outside of the hallway was indeed a garden. Vast varieties of plants and herbs along with flowers and trees. Butterflies occupied the air as they bat their wings above the plant life._

_A couple of bird baths were scattered around, but there was a single stone bench in the middle of all of the garden. That was not was caught the flame haze's attention, nor was the Sakura Tree that stood in full bloom right next to the bench._

_A little girl sat on the stone bench, swinging her crossed ankled feet back and forth. She had dirty blonde hair that was tied up in a high ponytail and beautiful Amethyst eyes. The girl was wearing a gorgeous ball gown styled dress. It was pink and white in color and the girl wore white shoes that had the heel raised just a bit._

_A puzzled expression made it's way on Shana's face as the flame haze got closer to the little girl. There was this weird familiarity about the child that struck Shana wrong. It was like she knew, and really knew, the little girl from a long time ago but who?_

_An image of Alice passed the flame haze's mind but she shook her head. There was no way that girl was Alice! The fox girl was older, had a tail and ears of a fox and not to mention she has Ruby red eyes not Amethyst colored._

_Though the dirty blonde hair is something they both shared. But Alice is dead. _

_There is no way humanly possible that that's Alice, perhaps when she was a kid, sitting on that bench under the Sakura Tree._

_Before Shana could contemplate the theory any longer, a man approached the small girl. He wore a dark brown trench coat and a matching hat. The man looked to be in his thirties or forties but it was hard for the flame haze to tell considering he wore sunglasses and his coat collar was up so only a little bit of his face was revealed. _

_The man started talking to the girl. Unfortunately, Shana was too far away to hear exactly what but did notice something in his hand._

_In the mans right hand was a cane. The top was of a charcoal gray rams head, the animal bore dark gold horns, and the rest of the stick was a sheen black._

_As Shana's gaze went higher and higher, her eyes eventually settled on a spot on the mans right hand. There was something on it. From the distance she was at, it looked to be a tattoo or smudge, but she felt like she needed to know what it was of.  
><em>

_The flame haze crept closer, moving as stealthily as possible as to not draw the attention of the two people talking. As she got closer, Shana stepped on a twig that just happened to make a very audible cracking sound. Her face paled slightly as the man immediately looked to where he thought the sound came from. _

_Staying a still as a statue, the flame haze let out a silent breath of relief when the man turned back around and said some more words to the little girl._

_Shana heard the girl giggling as the flame haze finally got close enough to see what was on the mans hand. It definitely wasn't a smudge but nor could it be called a tattoo. _

_A bone, sticking straight up, with a fiery ball on top of it was imprinted on the mans right hand. Tilting her head at an angle, the flame haze thought it looked like a lower case i._

_It was never something she had seen before and as Shana reached her hand to her chest to grab her pendant, she realized it wasn't there. _

_What happened to Alastor?_

_Shana's sharp sixth sense tingled. Something wasn't right._

_She looked back up to the two people and the flame haze nearly gasped in surprise when she saw they had vanished._

_She looked left and right but the man and little girl were no where in sight._

_Shana lightly sighed as she started backing up. She was stopped short when she hit something rather hard and sturdy, like a wall, behind her._

_The flame haze turned around and felt a cold chill run down her spine. The man in the dark brown trench coat towered over her crouching figure with a sick crooked grin plastered on his face. It stumped her that she had not felt his presence but the thought dissipated when the man reached in his coat with his right hand. _

_Shana tried summoning a fuzetsu and stopped when she realized that nothing was happening. She looked up to see the mans mouth was moving but no words were being vocalized and soon the mans grin came back and he started pulling something out of his coat. The flame haze looked him in the eye and almost instantly regretted it. _

_His eyes were nothing but two black voids in his skull. The eerie feeling she got was enough to make goosebumps ravish her skin. She gulped. In a last effort the flame haze tried getting up, thanking God she had martial arts training, but to her startling realization her feet seemed to be glued to the ground as she was frozen in the same position. She watched as the mans hand was revealed again._

_Before she knew it, The Flame-Haired Blazing-Eyed Hunter, Shana, was staring straight down the barrel of a gun she once disposed of. _

_Happy Trigger._

_The man pulled the trigger._

Shana woke up screaming as she shot up from her bed. She started breathing heavily and turned to sit on the side of the bed, holding the sides of her head as she fought to control her breathing.

"What was that" Muttered the flame haze as she tried to recall as much of what happened. After realization hit her, Shana let out a long breath relief. "So it was all just a dream."

_More like a nightmare _She inwardly corrected as she got up from her bed and gathered some clothes. When she was getting off the bed the dark haired girl had realized she had been sweating in her dream, and wanted to get into the shower as quickly as possible.

Shana stripped from her slightly damp clothing and stepping under the shower head, the hot water on her skin helped calm her nerves. After that dream, her nerves seemed a bit shaken up and the relaxation of a long hot shower she thought would do the trick to help.

Her mind drifted back to what occurred in the dream. She never had a dream like that before, and she had no idea who those people were.

The little girl had seemed awfully familiar but the man was a complete stranger. The flame haze thought about the mark she had seen on his hand.

Never had Shana seen something like it, nor did she have a clue as to why the man was holding Happy Trigger. She destroyed the gun so no one could ever use it again so how did he get it? The flame haze shook her head, causing some of the tips of her soaking wet hair to fling water drops on the shower curtain.

Of course it didn't matter how the man grabbed hold of the gun. It was a dream! Meaning the gun was still in a million little pieces in an endless stream of void.

The mark on the man's hand did make her wonder though. What did it mean? Was it the symbol of a group? Maybe it was just a regular tattoo...maybe.

Shana focused her attention back on the little girl that appeared in her dream. Now that the flame haze thought about, she recalled the girl was wearing a certain type of dress. She had seen it before.

Those kinds of dresses were worn back in the old days, around 1400's and 1500's, so Shana had seen in a book. Which anyone would then assume that the dream took place nearly 3,000 years ago. A very old yet weird dream, a man with an i on his right hand, a girl that resembled Alice except in younger form and the return of Happy Trigger.

That meant...something Shana couldn't figure out just yet.

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><p>The flame haze , having completed her shower, wondered into the small kitchen of her apartment. She stopped and looked out a window half way.<p>

The sky was no longer the beautiful sea blue as gray clouds dominated the vast atmosphere above the city, giving it a gloomy appearance. The air was wet and muggy, meaning it just rained or was going to.

Shana continued into the kitchen and started preparing her breakfast.

"Instant Ramen.." The flame haze muttered as she pulled out the microwavable cup, filled with noodles and vegetables, then added with a roll of her eyes, "..again"

_I really have to learn to cook things _She thought. Shana recalled the last cooking session she had with Chigusa. All that's needed to be said; Things didn't end well and the mother ended up having to call in dinner since most of the groceries had been blown up in the lesson...literally. A lot of what the flame haze tried to cook ended up badly burned, burned to the point of ashes, blown up or so far beyond recognition that Chigusa thought it to be inedible.

However, even after everything that happened, Shana felt not as discouraged when she finally got Whilhelmenia to learn some things from Chigusa. The mother was delighted to have a new 'apprentice' but it didn't show nearly as much when the day was over and firemen were hosing down the flames in the kitchen. It had taken weeks before the kitchen was usable again.

Ever since Shana's last cooking lesson, the flame haze didn't help out as much in the kitchen when she was over for dinner, even more so when Yoshida was invited over as well. It irked the dark haired girl when she watched them making these beautiful, and very delicious, looking dishes and make it look so easy.

That had to be one of the reasons why Kazumi would make a wonderful wife. She knew how to cook. The flame haze figured she would have to, at least, make an edible dish so she can be a good wife.

_Wife? _Shana blushed at the thought. _Where did that come from?_

At that moment the timer went off and she poured the instant noodles into a bowl and sticking chopsticks in it before making her way to the T.V.

The flame haze predicted the day to be a lazy one since she didn't have any plans made, nor did she think any of her friends would considering the weather. It just brought your mood down.

She flipped through the channels and seeing nothing was on, decided to go on the internet.

* * *

><p>It was later in the day when Shana awoke on the couch. She sleepily rubbed her eyes and stretched.<p>

_Must have fallen asleep _The flame haze headed over to her apartment balcony and peered through the long blinds that stretched across the sliding door, keeping people from seeing in.

Rain was coming down in the bucket loads and the wind was blowing. Small trees were getting thrown left and right and big trees were shaking under the unceasing water droplets that plummeted down to earth from dark gray clouds, showing no mercy for anything or anyone.

Shana sighed. The already dreary weather just got worse.

She started walking back to the sofa when the doorbell rang.

_Who could that be? _The flame haze mused as she made her way to the front door. She opened it and was rather surprised to see the familiar face.

"Yuji?"

Said boy looked at her and relief showed through his voice. "Ah Shana. Thank goodness you were home, I was afraid you weren't"

The flame haze stepped aside allowing the soaked boy to enter her apartment. Once she closed the door she said, "Not that I'm not glad to see you and all but what are you doing here and why are you completely drenched?"

"Well if you haven't noticed yet, it's pouring out there" He replied pointing to the door. She rolled her eyes.

"I know that!" Shana lightly snapped. "Shouldn't you have an umbrella with you when you go out in the rain?"

"I guess" The boy shrugged. Yuji held his arms before shivering and sniffling.

The dark haired girl saw and grabbed hold of one of his arms, "You should get out of those wet clothes" she stated before guiding him over to the bathroom where he could change out of the soaked clothing.

"Yea" He quietly said, stepping into the bathroom. The boy turned around and said, "Thanks" before closing the door.

Shana stared at the door a little while longer then walked back into the living room. She sat down on the couch and pondered the reason why her new boyfriend arrived at her doorstep in such a rainstorm. The answer would seem obvious but a gut feeling told her it was for another reason.

It was a couple of minutes later that the flame haze was pulled out of her thoughts by the familiar click of the bathroom door opening, but she realized something a bit too late.

Yuji rounded the side of the couch..in only a bath towel wrapped around his waist. The girl blushed and looked away in an attempt to hide it which proved to be the wrong move.

"Are you alright?" Yuji asked, his voice dripping in worry as he got closer to the flame haze sitting on the sofa.

"Hai"

"You sure? Your face is all red"

"Uresai! Uresai! Uresai!" Shana shouted as she stood up and put a couple of feet between them, trying to look annoyed but the blush that tinted her cheeks didn't help much. "Where are your clothes?"

"Wet" Yuji replied in the most-obvious-thing-in-the-world tone. "I draped them over the shower and tub so they could dry"

"Don't you have any already dry ones?"

"I'm not the kind of person to bring an extra pair of dry clothes with me everywhere I go" The boy said before plopping down on the couch and turning the T.V on.

"But..." The flame haze trailed off, not knowing what else she could say to make things different. She took in a deep breath and looked at him sternly while placing her hands on her hips.

"You still haven't told me why you suddenly felt the need to grace me with your presence" Shana told him.

Yuji's eyes widened slightly and he jumped off the couch and went into the bathroom, leaving the flame haze confused.

He returned almost immediately and walked up to her.

"I almost forgot" The boy confessed rather sheepishly before continuing. "Yesterday Satou lent me a movie...well more like forced it on me. He told me to watch it but I never got around to it and today he wants it back so I was on my way to his house to give it to him when it started pouring and the wind picked up. I saw that I was not far from your place so I came here, realizing I wouldn't get far in the storm" He finished explaining.

"Why did he force a movie on you?"

Yuji shrugged. "He said I've been spending way too much of my time around girls, and am turning into a girly boy so he gave me the dvd saying it would help me get back in touch with my more manly side" His face twisted in annoyance as he finished.

It was true. The Mystes had been spending a lot of time around Shana and Yoshida and said flame haze couldn't remember the last time her boyfriend actually had a guys night.

"Well, He was just trying to help you" Shana's voice was strained in the beginning and the corner of her mouth twitched before letting out all the laughter she tried to hold in at the end, but miserably failed to.

Yuji looked at her even more annoyed, clearly showing from his facial expression.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up" He said and looked back at the T.V.

The flame haze wiped the tears that had strayed down her cheeks before sitting down next to the Mystes.

"Gomen" She said, a couple of giggles escaped as she started calming down. He smiled at her.

"So..wanna watch the movie Satou lent me?" Yuji asked already getting up and putting the disc in.

"Sure"

* * *

><p>It was half way through the movie and Shana felt like she'd die from boredom. The movie was about men killing men, big guns, monster trucks and girls in too little clothing.<p>

Not of it interested the flame haze as she glanced over at her boyfriend sitting closer to her. She noted he seemed pretty into the movie from the way his eyes intently watched the screen.

She took in his facial features. His gorgeous eyes, his perfect nose, his just perfect lips and his perfectly scuplted chin. Her gaze drifted down.

His neck was even perfect too. Her eyes wandered further down.

He had good shoulders, perfect for football. Finally her eyes wondered all over his chest. Perfect. His subtle six pack abes. They were definitely there but not as hard looking as wrestlers, still any teenage guy would kill to have his six.

_All that training has done good _The flame haze thought.

"You might wanna stop drooling soon or else you'll have a lot to clean up later" Yuji said with an amused smirk on his face to see his girlfriend checking him out.

His voice scared the crap out of Shana as she jumped a little. Her hand instantly shot to her mouth when her mind registered what the boy had said. She mentally smacked herself when she did in fact find some saliva on the corner of her mouth. "Don't flatter youself" The flame haze said, coldly.

"I'm not the one drooling"

"I wasn't!" She tried to defend herself.

"Your right" He said. Shana looked over at the T.V for a couple of moments then turned back to the boy next to her...or rather the place he just was. She glanced around to see him no where in sight.

"Some people call it eye-rape" The flame haze jumped at the sound of his voice. Yuji walked back over to the couch and sat down next to her again, this time fully clothed.

"Shut up" She said as she rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Make me"

Shana turned back to him in disbelief but a blush quickly engulfed her face when she realized how close the boy was.

_Why do I keep blushing?_ She angrily asked herself in her mind.

Yuji leaned in slightly, and the dark haired girl saw what he was getting at. She let show a small smile.

The two started leaning in until their lips met in a simple kiss. The moment was lived short when the doorbell rang.

_Who ever is at that door... _Shana inwardly trailed off, imagining what kind of pain she could inflict on the person who interrupted them. She opened the door and she could hear her jaw go limb and make a resounding 'smack'' on the floor in absolute shock.

"Konnichiwa Shana-chan~!"

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><p><strong><em>Who is this person? I bet you already have an idea ;)<em>**

**_I'm moving so the next couple of chapters won't be posted as fast. Just wanna tell you in advance._**

**_Was this chapter; A= Awesome, B=Boring, C= Cool, D= Dude!, E= Excellent or F= Fail! ? (Not the last T.T)_**

**_Now time to REVIEW! :D_**


	8. CH8: Unexpected Arrival and Some Answers

_**I finally got around to finishing this chapter! YAY! I've been busy with other stories I'm writing for fictionpress so add that on top of the fact that I'm practically living in a hotel room until I can find an apartment equals slow updating :(**_

_**Hope you enjoy 3**_

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><p><strong>Recap;<strong>

Who ever is at that door..._ Shana inwardly trailed off, imagining what kind of pain she could inflict on the person who interrupted them. She opened the door and she could hear her jaw go limb and make a resounding 'smack'' on the floor in absolute shock._

_"Konnichiwa Shana-chan~!"_

************************************Shakugan no Shana****************************

To say shocked would probably be an understatement of the expression displayed on the young flame haze's face as she froze to the spot, her hand still on the door knob, all because of the person who stood beyond the door frame.

Shana opened her mouth, hope of coherent words being formed were crushed as all that came out was a strangled sound.

Standing before her, in the flesh, was Alice.

Her dirty blonde hair flowing as freely as ever around the fox girl's waist, her Ruby red eyes studying the flame haze that stood speechless, staring right back at her.

"Hello?" Alice waved a hand in front of Shana's face with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Looks like no one's home" She concluded with a dramatic sigh.

The girl pushed past Shana, the flame haze not as much as blinking, and Alice lazily sauntered into the living room.

She took a look around then her eyes locked onto a pair of gray orbs located on the couch. She raised her eyebrows.

Before she could say anything, Yuji quickly stood up and walked over to her. He bowed slightly as it was part of a traditional greeting. "Konnichiwa. I'm Sakai Yuji, and you are?"

The fox girl couldn't get a word out of her mouth when, the once statued flame haze, reappeared as she came around the corner from the front door and with a completely blank face, Shana grabbed a tight grip on Alice's wrist and nearly dragged the girl back to the one bedroom. Leaving a confused Yuji to stand alone.

Shana slammed the door shut and whirled around to Alice, who had already made herself comfortable on the bed.

"What, in the name of all things good, are you doing here?" The flame haze asked in a way that made it sound like she was about to laugh. She tried to keep her voice down and not shout since she didn't want to alert the boy in the next room but she was so confused it angered her.

"I just had a hunch that you might be at _your_ apartment" Alice sarcastically replied with a roll of her ruby red eyes.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" Shana practically screamed at the girl. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ANYWHERE!"

Alice feigned a hurt expression but the flame haze saw right through it. "You know what I mean" She spat.

Alice shook her head in almost a disapproving way before getting up off of the very comfy bed, she noted, and walked over to the raging flame haze.

Her face bore a calm and relaxed expression as she placed a hand on each of Shana's shoulders. "Calm down" _you're overreacting _The fox girl bit back, knowing it might just do the opposite of what she wanted.

Shana took a deep breath and let it out slowly, effectively soothing her shaken nerves. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked the other girl right in the eye. "Explain" It wasn't a suggestion, a question or a request. It was a demand.

Alice sighed. She knew that her sudden appearance probably gave the raven haired girl a near heart attack and knew that no matter what, she couldn't get out of explaining why she was back from the dead, but it had only been a matter of time.

"You might wanna sit down for this" She warned and pointed to the bed. Shana gave her a look that read; 'This better be good', the girl looked back at the flame haze with a replied look of; 'You have no idea'

Once comfortable, said girl motioned for the dirty blonde to start speaking.

Alice took a deep breath in before opening her mouth. "Well, I guess I'll start from the beginning.." She began. "Around 500 hundred years ago, I was sent out to complete a mission that had been assigned to me. I took off and spent most of the next day traveling, but I stopped when I realized that someone had been following me. Along with my wits and beyond expert maneuvering/evasive skills, I still wasn't able to lose them and it started to piss me off. So I turned around and faced them. It was then that I realized even the cleverest people can do extremely stupid things at crucial times. The people I faced were beyond anything I was expecting. The sheer amount I underestimated them was enough to violently unnerve even myself, and come to a disturbing insult to my enemy"

"Needless to say, they were able to capture me. It took them awhiiiiile to just bring me down or land a single blow but they proved to be overpowering with numbers and slightly in strength. When the people rendered me immobile and unable to fight, that's when I knew it had all been set up. It was all a waiting ambush...and I walked straight into it" Alice said the last with a deep scowl and glared at the floor, clenching her fist until their white before releasing and repeating the process again. Not that she would admit it out loud but the glare that the fox girl possessed was enough to make Shana's skin crawl in an unpleasant way. And she knew the glare probably wasn't even in full throttle, maybe even just a mere sand grain sized piece out of a huge pizza sized circle.

Alice continued, with each word she glared harder and the temperature in the room fell a degree. "The men took me to a place, far, far away from where they captured me. I know because they loaded me up into some kind of truck that had special cells on the inside. Each were layered and layered with various Unrestricted Spells and a few Houges were placed around the truck, connecting to every single cell, making sure no prisoners escaped. It wasn't the most comfortable ride and it was practically humiliating when you have to go to the bathroom with two men _intently _watching you. 'In case she tries to escape'" Alice mimicked one of the voices of her capturerers. "I couldn't have been happier to get off that retched vehicle. The people walked me..well not really walked since I was digging my heels in the ground and squirming so eventually it had just been a matter of time before one of the guys did the mistake in trying carry me! Aw man did it feel good to send a kick straight to his probably ugly face. Did I mention they blindfolded me? Well yea they did that,the whole trip!"

"By the smell that was in the air, I could tell we were in a desert area. Not to mention the sun that was beating down on my back causing me to start sweating as I was led into a building. From what I guessed it was stone and probably hundreds of feet under the desert plain because we were going downhill for a long time. The building wasn't really much of a building, more like a cave with lots of rooms. I was kept there for nearly 300 years. One day a guard by my cell made a simple, yet deadly(for them) mistake which led to my break out. I've been travelling for nearly a hundred years searching for my weapons and fighting numerous battles against the same people who had captured me and during that time I realized the people were all part of a huge group and/or organization, but then I came across new and better weapons so for the past last hundred years I've been searching for you" Alice finished and glanced over at Shana to gauge at her reaction.

"But Whilhelmenia said you died"

"Nope, If I died then I think I would know"

The flame haze sat still, completely speechless for the second time that day. She tried desperately to comprehend everything the other girl said and try to make sense of it all. There was one thing bugging her that involved the fox girl however.

"What about the dream?" Shana inquired, looking up at the dirty blonde.

Alice, despite the serious situation, laughed. "What about it?"

"If you were stuck in a cell for over 300 years then how were you able to appear in my dream when I was, appparently, in a coma for a year?"

"The first time I appeared, it was an SOS. I had hoped you would realize you were in just a dream and you would trace it all back to my location, but sometimes people just don't get it through their head" Alice said with a smirk, knowing what had been said would get an amusing reaction from the flame haze.

"What about all the other times?" Shana asked somewhat calmly, surprising the fox girl but she was well able to not let it show.

"After I figured out you weren't getting the message, I was deeply discouraged and stopped sending them"

The raven haired girl thought back at her 'Free Days'. _That would explain the sudden stop of lemons_

"Then I escaped" Alice continued, "That's when I freed you from the coma. After I completed that, I went out on my search to retrieve my lost gear, and had sadly run into a couple of familiar people. Eventually I happened upon a shop that sold some very nice weapons and bought some with what little I could earn and ditched the place. After awhile I realized this group of enemies were going to pose as a serious threat down the road and came in search of the legendary Defenders" The fox girl said the last part with a small smirk.

"Defenders?"

She nodded. "Back wherever I was, rumor was going around about a legendary fighting couple whose skills overpowered even the toughest of opponents, and fought so well because of their passion for keeping their city safe from harm. So soon enough everyone started calling them the Defenders for the way they heroically protect their city" Then Alice frowned a bit. "Though the rumoring led me to you, the same can go for the enemy"

"Who is this enemy exactly?" Shana asked after a moment of silence.

"They call themselves the Masked-i, pretty stupid name by the way. It's a new group so I don't know much about them but I do know one thing" Alice looked at the flame haze with such a solemn face it was slightly unnerving. "They're coming"

Shana went into deep thought. _Masked-i_ It sounded familiar in a way. She pondered the name hard but couldn't come to a clear result.

The room went silent for some time while both girls got lost in thought before Alice spoke up.

"So...What's Yuji doing here?" She asked, completely lifting the serious atmosphere that once lingered around.

"He-" Shana started but was cut off by the bedroom door opening and revealing the young man in question.

Yuji looked to the two girls a bit uncertainly. "Um...Everything ok? I heard shouting then silence, neither of you guys have come out for awhile"

"Yeah fine" Alice answered before the flame haze could. She walked over to the Mystes and put on the best smile she could muster then and there. "We haven't been formally introduced yet. My name's Alice. It's nice to finally meet you in person"

"Ah Konnichiwa" Yuji then glanced back at Shana. "So are you Shana's friend?"

Alice shrugged. "More or less"

The fox girl then smelled a very appealing aroma coming from out the room. She quickly shoved past the boy, causing him to nearly topple over but the flame haze caught him with fast speed, and the half human girl found herself in the kitchen to see pots and pans full of cooking food. Drool was practically oozing out of her mouth at the sight.

"What was that for?" Shana angrily asked the dirty blonde as she came into the kitchen with a slightly stunned Yuji.

Alice looked back over her shoulder at the two people and smiled sheepishly, "Gomen"

Yuji noticed she was staring at the food. "It's almost done"

While the fox girl squealed, Shana came up beside him and looked at the stove, before she could say anything Yuji cut her off.

"It's getting late and I thought you guys might have gotten hungry. I'm not much of a cook but it's, for the most part, edible" He unintetionally mocked the flame haze's cooking skills, which didn't go unnoticed.

She punched him in the arm and with an almost silent 'hmph' she left out to the living room. Soon after Alice followed.

The two girls sat down on the couch and waited patiently for the food to be done. Alice glanced over at Shana. "So..You didn't exactly answer my question"

The other girl, though a bit reluctant, relayed everything the Mystes had said upon his sudden arrival and Alice burst out laughing at the end.

"It's not funny!" Shana tried to defend Yuji but even she joined in the laughter at the end. The sound attracted the boy.

Yuji walked into the living room. "You two seem to get along well" He commented with a grin.

Shana shook her head, laughter still dying down. "Only sometimes"

"How did you two become friends?" The Mystes curiously asked, sitting on the coffee table.

The girls looked at each other uncertainly and bought some time when a timer went off in the kitchen.

The three people sat at the 4 chair dining room table to eat the dinner. Deciding Yuji needed to know the whole story, Shana explained everything that had happened during her coma. Alice told what happened during the past 500 years people thought she was dead.

"Wow.." Was all Yuji could manage as he heard the shocking news. He looked in deep thought. Alice was stuffing her face with the food while Shana waited for what else the Mystes might say.

"How strong are they?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"Anything beyond what I have already told you, I would like to discuss with Whilhelmenia and Pheles" Alice stated not sparing the boy a glance.

"Pheles? What makes you think she's here?"

Alice looked at them both, slightly confused. "She's not?"

"No" They both replied.

"Oh.." Alice went silent as she looked back down at her food. "I figured since there were two flame haze's in the city then Pheles might have been here"

"Three actually" Shana corrected the fox girl.

"Eh? Who?"

"The Claws and Fangs of Violation flame haze"

Alice grinned. "Oh? I never knew The Chanter of Elegies was one to stick around for awhile"

The fox girl stood up suddenly, making her two companions jump. Alice glanced at the two and her grin went ear-to-ear. "I think it's about time we visited some people"

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><p><strong><em>Like it? Hate it? Well review anyway :D<em>**


	9. AN

**_Ello little readers! ~ ^.^_**

**_I know you hate to read this as much as I hate to write it but it needs to be done right now. _**

**_I've realized I haven't updated in some time so I decided to put this A/N up, that way you won't have to keep thinking 'When is this going to be updated?'_**

**_Truth is..It won't be for a little bit, sorry. I've finally found a place to rent so for the next week or so I'll be shopping for furniture and dealing with the moving in process. Fun ._**

**_Because I can't say it enough, Thank you all who reviewed and left encouraging comments :D_**

**_Oops! Better get going or else my sushi going to get warm! :o_**

**_Bye-BEE!  
><em>**


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